Ghost Training [Open]

[Veritas et Lux]

This thread will no longer be open once four people have joined. First come first serve. It won't be my last class. If you attend this class, than you have to participate in a follow-up aptitude test thread... If you can't own up to replying, than do not join.

The dreary rain pittered an pattered down on the black-top. Lighting flashes and thundering roars filled the night air at unpredictable intervals. It was scheduled day for training and nothing was going to stop it. Huddled inside of the large power-shield fences, the military base resided. It was a classified location somewhere on Wayland. The troops that were there were blind-folded and brought in by shuttle...

She stood there clad in her green armor, helmet on, gripping her Kx-80 modified blaster rifle. It wasn't the rain that was going to get to the troops, not the cold, and not the mud. It would be her to ultimately do them in. This training was intensive, and required they work as a team to learn the skills to operate as a ghost agent or platoon. She may have only been Mandalorian for a couple of months, but she's always been strict.
Lined up, there on the black-top they stood, flooding rains pouring down on them in their armors.
"Alright boys, listen up! You have been selected from a random drawing, and out of those that applied for this- you four got it. I am going to shape you four into an elite task force, you will either make the cut or I will break you...

Do you understand?", she stood with her back erect, pacing to and fro before them. As tanks and shuttles loudly buzzed all around, she raised her voice accordingly. They would be able to hear her anyways, commlinks in their helmets were all on, but she wanted to make sure that it was drilled into their skulls before proceeding to get their asses on the move.

 

[Jacques]

Rain slammed against his black and red armor. He'd been blindfolded, shoved in a whatever, and brought to wherever. Gordon wasn't exactly a fan of that, but he wasn't going to complain if he got to practice. It'd been a month or so, since he'd last formally trained with the Mandalorian army. But war was no longer on their doorstep, it had plowed through violently. Like an impatient robber who sucked at lockpicking.

At least, that's what it seemed like to him.

Underneath his helmet was an unshaven face, a thick blonde beard having taken over the bottom half of his face entirely, save for his mouth of course. Dark circles showed under his eyes as sleep had evaded him yet again. Grunting, to himself, Gordon lifted up his blaster rifle and rested it where the stump of his right arm used to be, almost emulating a normal grip, though obviously not the same.

He'd heard of her. A former Jedi, now a General in his military. Though not particularly fond of people who got to jump straight up through the ranks without any prior time served in the military, the knowledge that the woman was once a Jedi Master and at the same time younger than him made Gordon a little more lenient. He wasn't going to argue with Mandalore's decisions. As she began to talk, he dropped his rifle by his side once more, keeping a tight grip on it with his only remaining hand.

"Yes I understand, sir!" The Elite replied as soon as she finished talking, not sure whether saying ma'am would insult her or if say sir would. He'd have to take a chance either way though.

 

[Syn]

Allison was blindfolded and felt the rain on her face as she heard Mitya. She was excited but wasn't fully sure if she should have been here with he sister, she could fight in a squad but being a ghost for her was a lot harder. No one looked twice at a man her size but she drew attention and spoke as she heard another soldier. "Sir yes sir." Her armor was there and she could hear the rain hitting the silver plates.

 

[Livgardist]

Tesla closed his eyes. He felt the rain hit his armor, a rattling sound reaching through the helmet to his ears. They had been blindfolded - How many were they? He did not know - and taken away on a shuttle - he had recognized the vibrations of flight - and now, they were in a military base somewhere in the very farthest reaches of civilization. Thunder echoed across the lead grey sky, accompanying the downpour. Mud, rain, cold - and a tough drill instructor. A slight smirk appeared under Tesla's helmet.

As a former child soldier, he'd never had any need to undergo bootcamp training, but he had heard of this type of training in the past. Now, it appeared, his time had finally come to undergo that challenge. He knew nothing of his new 'comrades', or of the woman in front of him, and wondered if they could actually be trusted to watch his back on a battlefield. But he intended to listen, and grow from the experience. That was the way of a soldier - of a Mandalorian, after all.

He heard another male reply that he understood, to the woman. He saw no need to reiterate the man's words, instead shifting his weight slightly. He wanted to remove the blindfold, but decided not to. They were probably there for a reason related to their training, and a decent soldier could gain a decent amount of situational awareness even without his vision. And so, he listened instead.

 

[Veritas et Lux]

screw it, there will be three of you.

 

[Veritas et Lux]

At the confirmation of only one of the three, Mitya was a little discouraged. They would learn really fast; that gossip in the halls was more correct than anything.
"Hey, you know the new General? The Jedi Master?"
"Ha, yea man. What a joke- she won't last long."
"No way man, she's pretty legit! She's apparently really strict."
"Strict? Ha, dude... Corporal's gossip's gettin' to you. A Jedi master strict? Please..."
"Dude, I saw it myself, she was disciplining some private, straight-up yelling louder than any other drill-instructor i've heard. Must be some kind of force trick to make her voice louder or something... Trust me dude, I don't want any part of that. She's scary- and I'm an elite."

Oh, but how scary she was- they didn't even know. She tapped her foot a couple of times, stopping dead in her footsteps, nodding her head slowly as an "okay.. I see how it is".
She pursed her lips and turned her microphone in her helmet off before continuing on to bellow using the force- they would hear her than. They wanted big bad scary jedi, they had it.
Her voice cried out over the roaring of the tanks, over the thunder, and over the shuttles zipping by over their heads.
"Excuse me? I don't think my hearing is doing okay... I said, 'Do you, under, stand?'", she didn't yell, the intensity of her tone was carried through within the amplification.
Her voice would penetrate through their helmets into their skulls, past the tank behind them, probably even into the tank where corporals would be able to hear her.
She put her foot down, before she could remove the blind-folds she would have complete respect from her lower-ranking soldiers.

 

[Jacques]

Turning his head around, Gordon could barely believe that there were any other soldiers besides him there. Had they completely forgotten every bit of basic training handed out by every army...ever? He couldn't tell whether it was because of the General's inexperience with the Mandalorians or it was because the others were just plain inept, but that wasn't going to keep the Elite from being a model soldier.

He stood straighter at attention than he had been before, trying to reach that ever allusive six foot seven. With that, he answered "Sir, reading you loud and clear...sir!" He made sure to sound convincing. She hadn't proved herself to him yet, but, again, he wasn't about to question the Mandalore.

 

[Livgardist]

When the woman got no response from the other recruits, she screamed, louder than anything Tesla had ever been through before. Her words rang still in his ears when the male soldier replied once more. Tesla nodded slowly, to himself as much as to the woman, and said in a calm, low tone that hid the anger ripping at his calmness, threatening to have him launch at her right then and there: "Crystal clear." He said. "But you knew that already, ma'am..." He muttered, half under his breath.

It was odd, the way she had enhanced her voice. It wasn't normal, not by tech at least. Maybe it was the Force? A Mandalorian who could use the Force? Odd at the least, and in a soldier, plain dangerous, towards his enemy. Tesla found himself with growing respect for the woman he could not see, despite the fact she already pissed him off.

 

[Syn]

[[wait who didn't answer? We all said the same thing...]]

Allison raised an eyebrow as she heard Mitya. She had heard the others and knew what the deal was as she remained still and spoke. "Crystal general." Allison wasn't one to argue as she stood between the others and breathed deep feeling her hair sticking to her neck and she was glad it waas in a tight ponytail.

 

[Bad Wolf]

Jenna Stood at attention in absolute silence as she listened to the General give the briefing, she listened as the rain pattered off her helmet and her Ranger Trench coat, she waited for the woman to finish her speech before responding.

"Ma'am yes Ma'am."

 

[Veritas et Lux]

She began to pace back and forth an erect sway once more, the rainwaters flooded an inch's height over the soles of her cortosis-weave boots. The squadron was oh-so beaming with radiant fluxes of energy, yea... Not.
Actual dispositions were to say the least, unforgiving, and clever poets or sly denunciations held beneath subjective breathing would soon dissipate along with the notions of dis-respect. Her boot came down once more, stopping and turning to face them. Things were different, they wouldn't have any impending urgency for thier time exempt her own demand.

"Good!", she hollered to them accompanied with a back that was straight. "Now you see that course? You see that rain?", momentary abeyance followed up her shouting, pointing out to a field with an obstacle course- darkened by the rain clouds. She heeded no gaze in the course's direction, but rather simply reached her arm behind her, pointing at it with index finger protruded.

"... Get to it.", she snapped. On the dime, she turned around and began marching them towards the course. There was a large power-shield fence serpenting the borders of the course. Giant monsters of concrete and metal towered above, lay dormant at their peaks the light source... And she would not turn them on either.
"This course will give me a general baseline assessment for you guys. Your agility, speed, stamina, and most importantly efficiency will be tested. Sprint the one-hundred yards down the very left side... It's muddy and their are holes, you will fall-.
At the end of the one-hundred, continue on to your right along the back end. Crawl under the power-shields, avoid them... Get your faces in the mud.
Climb up the rock-climb face and rappel down the other side.
Lastly, there's the pinchers. Four large blast doors that have been modified... You must lift them up to pass by underneath them. Each one you get to increases in weight by ten pounds. If you can't lift one yourself, you'd better god-damn hope that someone else can't so you can team up."

Her night infrared vision was on inside of her helmet's hud. She brought up two separate pop screens, one to the top left was heat vision, the other to the top right was a stop-watch with the capability of recording all of their times once finished.

"Well? What are you waiting for, get your asses over on that starting line.
3...2....1... Go."

 

[Bad Wolf]

Jenna removed her helmet she didn't want an unfair advantage on the course, she set it down at her feet very calmly, undid her belt holsters and put those down next to the helmet, Lifting her face to the rain she inhaled deeply and abruptly bolted forward down the
100 yard course, she hit the first pit, tripped and combat rolled with the fall coming up into a sprint, she continued running forward finding a second hole she planted one foot infront of the other and slid into the fall bracing her left arm out and straightening her back she slid along the muddy ground and rolled again into a run, the third hole she found proved problematic as it was a tad deeper than she had anticipated but as she went forward she twisted her torso and planted her right shoulder into the ground pushing off with her left foot and planting her left hand allowed her to do a flip up into a crouch on the edge of the pit, she stood and sprinted forward the last length of the 100 yard course, she turned down the right path and found the second obstacle, she threw herself in the mud and proceeded to low crawl through.

 

[Syn]

Allison looked at the course and nodded as she rolled her shoulders seeing Jenna go. She started and made sure her hair was in a tight ponytail before hitting the one hundred stretch. She saw the first hole Jenna went into and jumped clearing what he hoped was a line and landing in another. as her right leg hit solid ground and she went backwards slightly. Allison moved and looked at the mud as she kept her pace and didn't worry about it. She could see Jenna also hitting the holes and kept going as she fell in the third and crawled out popping her neck. The end run sprint was more to catch up as she looked at the shields and breathed deep. She could do this just had to squeeze close to the ground.

 

[Livgardist]

Following the example of the others, Tesla slowly removed his helmet, letting it land in the mud. The rain poured down, soaking his hair, and finding its way under his armor. He took a deep, steady breath as the drill instructor spoke. The cold air chafed his lungs, but calmed his nerves, heightened his senses. His hands trembled with anticipation at the challenge that lay ahead of them. An obstacle course. He held back a smirk, waiting as she counted down.

Finally, at the 'Go', he launched himself along with the others, forward. The first obstacle was the muddy hundred yards. His breathing was steady as he rushed down the obstacle course. His eyes kept a look out for holes, and when he ran into one he jumped over it. He slipped and fell, landing in one of the holes, but it didn't slow him down as he hit face first. He heaved himself up again, and instead of standing up, slid down the slope on the wet mud, easily making up for the lost time again. When he finished the hundred yards he got on his feet, took a single deep breath, and then looked to the next challenge.

Power shields... He lay down, face to the mud, and began crawling, like a snake, under them. The ground was slippery, and so he used his arms and the tips of his toes to advance himself by pulling himself forward. He could hear the buzzing above him. But the sound's intimidation didn't affect him. His senses were heightened, his mind sharp. He had been in more battles in the past than he'd ever care to count. He always maintained his focus in the chaos of battle, and an obstacle course was no exception. Not far away he could hear and see the other recruits crawl him by. He ignored them. They would work together when they had to, but right now they were all on their own. Nobody could help them but themselves.

When he got out, he faced a massive rock wall, begging to be climbed. Tesla looked up, gritting his teeth for a moment. He was no fan of heights. Strangely enough, when on a basilisk it didn't affect him, but when on the ground on a planet, it was a real bother. He shrugged, grabbed a hold, and began climbing, mentally forcing himself to look up rather than down. It was a slow and arduous process, but he made do, and when he reached the top, he grabbed a hold of the rope.

"Here we go..." He muttered under his breath as he began to climb down with his feet against the wall, the rope slung under his buttocks to keep him from falling flat against it. He tensed his entire body and slowly walked backwards down on the wall. His muscles groaned under the weight of himself and his armor, but he gritted his teeth, ignoring their protests. Then he landed in the mud again, heaving a couple of heavy breaths before stumbling towards the last obstacle.

Four heavy blast doors, waiting to be opened, each heavier than the next one. He knew his own limits, and while he was a strong Mandalorian, he was no superhuman. This obstacle could break a soldier if not done properly. They would have to think before they acted, something he had a great deal of disdain for. He nodded slowly to himself, and then waited for the others to arrive, holding them up.

"Wait!" He called out, stopping them from passing him. "We need to be smart about this, or those doors will be the end of us. I'm fairly certain I'm the weakest in this squad in terms of pure muscle force. The three of you, line up in order from the weakest to the strongest. The strongest of you take the last blastdoor, the heaviest. The weakest, that is, me, take the first one, and then follow through in that order. Ready?"

He grabbed a hold of the blast doors, and then nodded to himself as he used all of his strength and pulled it up with a metallic groaning sound. He didn't stop until it landed on his shoulder. It wasn't extremely heavy, but he realized that lifting four of them would be enough to exhaust any soldier, making them useless if there was a battlefield beyond. He called out: "Go!"

As the others ran through, he stepped through himself as well, letting the blast door down with a heavy slam. Cracking his neck a bit, he muttered: "One down, three to go... Come on, next door, quick! No time to fall apart now, we're almost at the end, and time is running away! That drill demon will eat your balls for breakfast if you're late!" He shouted, patting a few of the others on the shoulders while shouting at them. His lungs burnt with agony, but he ignored it, entirely focused on the three blast doors that lay between them and the end of the course.

 

[Bad Wolf]

The low crawl had been easy same with the rock climb, she lived for this stuff, and the repelling down, hell she just grabbed the rope and launched herself off the cliff, tightening her grip on the rope to stop her descent and planting her legs into the mountain to support herself, the privates idea about the blast doors made sense but Jenna had an answer for that, She input a command into her wrist comp and reversed the magnetic polarity on her boots, and then switched half that force to the grips in her gloves, walking up to the metal door she slipped her hands under the crease and lifted, the added force of the reversed magnetics made the door lift easier than she had thought, Yeah technically it was cheating but no one said she couldn't do it, and hell work smarter not harder right.

 

[Veritas et Lux]

((don't leave jacques behind, wait for him to post.))

 

[Bad Wolf]

(((Doh hadn't realized he hadn't posted yet my bad, we can delete my post or save it for later)))

 

[Veritas et Lux]

well... im okay with saving it for later :p

 

[Jacques]

Everybody else moved quickly ahead of him, as if in some sort of rush to finish the course. It wasn't a test of how quickly one finished it, but how well one did in a forgiving amount of time. The others were foolish to remove their helmets. Would one do so in a time of battle? No, the helmet was a necessary part of their armor, and to take it off would be as if Gordon were removing a piece of himself. Looking down at his pathetic stump of a right arm, bandages wrapped tightly around it where the armor ended, the soldier couldn't help but feel he'd already been at a slight disadvantage.

Good, he grinned to himself. That's the way I like it.

Gordon slowly made his way to the start line, just as several others had reached the half way point. Once both feet were planted on the line for a second, firmly, not weakly he made sure, the Elite took off.

After what he'd been through, he'd learned to be strong, to be fast, and in times when that wasn't good enough, to step it up even when you didn't believe it possible. Only fools and weaklings gave up when their lives depended on it, and Gordon was going to make sure he wasn't either of those things.

He passed several holes without a problem, trying to gauge how deep they were. That seemed hard, as each one became deeper and deeper with each one that came up.

One came up that he did not see, and it caught his foot, and even part of his ankle. Gordon, however, easily threw his body into an action roll and came up running once more, making his way around every other one that came in front of him. The sound of rain against the ground and everybody's armor sent around a beat that helped the Mandalorian get into the groove of things.

Just as Gordon came upon the finish line, his boot began to step down onto thin air. Thinking quickly again, he jumped forward with his other foot and past the hundred yard line, rolling back up from the ground to come face to face with the power-shields.

Looking at his stump of an arm and back at the shields, the broken man couldn't help but smile. For some reason, unknown to everybody in the galaxy including him, couldn't understand why, but he loved being at a disadvantage. That was when he was able to shine the brightest. With that though. he dropped abruptly to the ground and began crawling. Being of a fairly tall height, Gordon could reach further than many people and had a lot more force when pushing off with his feet. His face was literally in the dirt, the visor completely mucked up with mud. But that didn't matter to him, because a person would do anything to survive, and he wasn't going to treat this situation any differently.

The Elite brought his right arm up a bit too much, as a little bit of the bandages on his right arm seared off, showing a tiny bit of dead skin from underneath. He kept crawling, crawling, pushing off with each foot harder than the last time, grabbing as much mud as he could and pulling as hard as possible. To Gordon, the saying save your best for last was bantha****, and that every part deserved your best. Energy is nothing when adrenaline was pumping through your veins, he figured, so why bother saving up?

Using the heavy rain and the back of his hand to wipe the mud from his face, Gordon looked at the next challenge that awaited him, and wasted no time once he'd taken a several second long look over. Rushing at it, he jumped as high as he could, grabbing the highest rock possible. Hanging from it, he kicked at the formation several times to dig a niche for his foot to rest, then did the same with the other foot right after. Doing this to negate having only one arm brought, Gordon up slower than he would have liked, but it was the only thing that kept him from not being able to do it.

Near the top, he kicked and kicked, digging out a spot for his right foot. Just as he went to grab a hold, the niche his left foot had been resting in crumbled to pieces and fell down the wall, the sound of the falling rocks like music to the human's ears, or would have been had he not been hanging on for dear life.

But he had a lot of upper body strength, and he wasn't afraid to use a good amount of it to assess the situation. Looking around, he caught a bigger rock to hold about a foot to the left, though down a little bit. Gordon didn't waste any time letting go, and grabbed onto the rock as he began to plummet. From there, the soldier continued to the top, and rappelled down then without much of any problem.

At the metal doors, Gordon was once more a little stuck. Having only one arm to lift would be a problem later on. That's in the future, he though, I'll figured it out once I get there. Finally he noticed the man who had called out earlier, though while Gordon had begun his rappel down.

"Don't think now, just do!" Gordon said, his gruff voice coming out somewhat condescendingly, as he grabbed hold of the door and lifted. Slowly it moved up, up, up, to the point where he could kneel down under it. Instead of continuing on, he put the door on his right shoulder and got a better hold of it with his left hand and pushed it up the rest of the way. Holding the door for the other guy, he nodded.

"Three more to go! We'll think when we get to the heavy ones."

(Kinda glossed over the course, sorry aboot that. Had to catch up!)

 

[Bad Wolf]

(((OK now Jenna will magnetically lift the door)))