The room was almost dark, with windows shining the holographic table and the rest. One man, known as Sergeant Major Kojo "Buck" Agu, looked down on the table`s screen surface watch the news video and left other articles on the top right.
A female soldier entered the room, and the Buck stood up. Like Buck, they both wore digital-grey military uniforms.
Captain Veronica "Dare" was the lead of the Orbit Drop Shock Troopers "Eagle Team". She stood a bit shorter than Buck.
Captain Veronica "Dare": Buck, any news here?
Buck turned the video around into perfect view position for Captain Dare. He watched military forces from different nations, fighting the Chimera in every human colony.
Chimerans were reptilian, alien species who were hungry for domination over the Ori-arm according to their gods. It was unknown about which religion the Chimerans told them that invading humanity was just.
Sergeant Major "Buck": Well good news first; Atlantic, EU, and the others are pushing off the Chimera very well. The Chimera didn't find the location of Earth either. We're winning a lot of fights and took back our colonies.
Captain Dare: Just like old times.
The United States of Atlantic was their home nation comprising North America and many colonies. Unlike United States of America, Atlantic was now home to diverse-cultural population, like Canada was. It's a mixed with Canadian background, but with high-advance powerful military.
Buck: Planet Avro is still standing. Every country on that planet is still fighting off the Chimeran forces from ground to space.
Captain Dare: Bad news?
Buck: Chimera found a new buddy, known as the Covenant: the super-powered alliance of different groups of alien race. They worship some kind of god, just like the Chimerans do. It's a coincident.
Captain Dare: Soon this whole war is going to get hotter than this time. United States of Atlantic must be the top super power enough, along with the others: European Union and Eastasia. And without us, the whole humanity will fall to the enemies' victory.
The slide door opened for Private First Class Michael "Mickey" Crespo, and he entered in.
Mickey: Sir, Rookie is on board right now.
Captain Dare: What, So soon? Great, who nicknamed that recruit?
Buck: That was me Dare. Lance Corporal Rookie was once part of the US Marines Corp. His real name: Roger Samuel. Now he's entering our SOCOM-class ship, joining the ODST.
Captain Dare: Well then, Buck...Michael...be sure you guys give Rookie some training before we arrive planet Avro.
Buck: Sure it is sir.
******************
FNG
Day 1 – 10:23:12
SOCOM-class stealth cruiser
Lance Corporal 'Rookie' Samuel
145th Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
It was morning; Lance Corporal Roger Samuel "Rookie" had never been on this SOCOM-class for an entire life. This was home to all branches of the Special Operations Command such as the Navy SEALS, 75th Ranger Regiment, and last but not least, the 145th Orbit Drop Shock Troopers.
OSDTs were top elites who took night-suicidal missions and air diving without causalities, except a few. While similar to the SEALs and Rangers, ODSTs had different armour that allowed them to swift silently, as deadly as a ninja.
That's why Roger was here, walking through the hall towards the armoury he suppose to meet. Roger served the US Marines Corp. for several years, including fighting the Chimera. With the Covenant joining the bloody war against humanity, Roger was given permission and an opportunity to transfer his military career to the ODST.
While swimming through the crowd of Special Forces members, Roger heard multiple gun fire, coming around the corner. That's the armoury he should go. He walked along the corner like a driver and entered the room. The armoury was huge, with few people taking target practice.
An ODST comrade was standing around until he found Roger. His armour was constructed with smooth plates, coloured in night-black, and has his helmet with clear faceplate. The name tag stick on the ODST's armour, stated "Gunnery Sergeant Edward (Romeo)". Romeo walked to Roger, since Roger had his name tag also.
Romeo: Lance Corporal Roger Samuel, right?
Rookie: Yes sir
Romeo: Good, welcome to SOCOM's 145th Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Get you ODST suit on and meet me at the armoury.
Rookie packed up his ODST suit and walked into the Boy's Change room. Ten minutes later, he returned to the armoury. He got his armour and his helmet all set, feeling comfortable with them. Romeo was waiting near the shooting gallery, and Rookie walked to him.
Romeo: Ok Roger. Your nickname is gonna be Rookie, so don't forget about that. Understood?
Rookie: Understood... but can I have a different nickname, like Archangel?
Romeo: Too late pal, but I'm sure your nickname should be good enough for you. Alright then, let's test you out first. Let's see if your skills meet the requirements. Get one of those ACR(s) from the Armoury Desk.
Rookie walked to the Armoury Desk with black-coloured weapons hanged behind the black T-shirt man inside. He pointed at Rookie and then the ACR assault rifle lay on the metal table. The ACR-A2 stands for "Adaptive Combat Rifle". It had a medium barrel and a Red Dot sight which gave it a sort of one-eye look.
Rookie grabbed the assault rifle and run back to Romeo nodding at him.
Romeo: Let's review your targeting skills. You know the drill, get to station one and aim your rifle downrange.
Rookie nodded and run to one of the stations. He levelled his ACR and aimed with its Red-Dot Sight.
Romeo: Shoot each target when aiming down your sight.
Two wooden targets popped up, one from above and the other in front of him. Rookie immediately pulled the trigger, and fired a single round on each target, and both targeted were knocked down.
Romeo: Nice... Now shoot at the targets while firing from the hip.
Three targets shoot up, illustrating alien soldiers. Rookie, again, levelled his rifle with his eye on the Red-Dot sight before shooting. He fired and shot one target at a time. After pinning down all the targets, Rookie turn to Romeo as Romeo nodded.
Romeo: Not bad... Now I'm gonna block the target with the sheet of plywood. I want you to shoot the targets through the wood.
Rookie nodded and return to his firing position. A wooden board suddenly stood up, making Rookie confused. He instead sprayed his bullets all along the wood until the wooden board fall down. Then a soldier target was there, at the far end, and it fell down also. He hit the target, but he wondered how he supposed to know where the enemy was hiding?
Romeo: Remember that bullets can penetrate thin, weak materials like wood, plaster and sheet metal... And now the final test.
Rookie flicked the trigger on the side that dropped the ACR's empty magazine. He placed the new one to where it dropped and the magazine clicked and set.
Romeo: I'm going to make the targets pop up one at a time. So hit all of them as fast as you can.
Rookie got his rifle levelled and aimed. Taking a slow breath; he hoped this last test wouldn't be hard for him.
Romeo: Ready...set...action!
A soldier target popped, and Rookie fired with his single shot. Another one popped up and he fired again. There are more and more targets to pin down, so fast Rookie could have imagined. Few seconds later, he could find no targets to shoot.
Romeo: Holy Cow! Good job! Never seen a solider like you before; but keep in mind that you should require more shots if your countering stronger fools... Now go get a side arm from the armoury.
But the armoury guy handed over the M6 SOCOM sidearm to Rookie, right beside him. The armoury guy then walked back to the Armoury Desk.
Romeo: Ok never mind... Now let's see how fast you can switch to your rifle and then your side arm. Go!
Romeo analyzed Rookie demonstrating his speed time of switching weapons. Rookie first packed his rifle on his back as the back suck the rifle with magnetic field. After he levelled his side arm, he then pushed his side arm through his handgun-pocket and took out his rifle from his back. No slow resistance shown.
Romeo: That's amazing Rookie. No slow motions; probably it's the side arm's weight... Alright Rookie, come this way.
Romeo lead Rookie to another table with thick wooden sticks displayed. There two of them and the knife was in the middle of them.
Romeo: Knife those two sticks.
Rookie: Ok.
Rookie grabbed the sharp-teeth, black-military knife, and spins it before he could try to slice the sticks. Counting three, he strike every stick one and the other, chopping each of them in half.
Romeo: Nice! Your knifing skills are remarkable! Sergeant Major Buck wants to see you. Follow me. You're free to take your weapons with you.
Rookie followed Romeo with his ACR-A2, M6 SOCOM side arm, and his combat knife. They exist out and travel along the halls. They took down stairs, leading one floor down. After one minute of walking, Rookie found himself at the hanger.
In the hanger, four ODST soldiers, different armour varieties, were there waiting for him. Behind was an huge obstacle course, with two floor high ladder platform.
Mickey: It's the F.N.G. sir.
Rookie: What?
Romeo: Go easy on Rookie; it's his first time in the regiment...its okay Rookie, stay frosty.
Captain Dare: Mickey, Dutch, Buck, that's Lance Corporal Roger "Rookie" Samuel. I'm Captain Veronica "Dare"; welcome to the Eagle Team Rookie...We have few minutes before we arrive at planet Avro.
Buck: But first, let's give you the C.Q.B. test. This test you'll have to run the cargo ship solo in less than 60 seconds. Romeo holds the squadron record at 19 seconds. Good luck.
Captain Dare: Good ahead. Climb the ladder Rookie.
Rookie: Yes sir.
Rookie run to the ladder, and climb up as fast as he can.
Cpl. Taylor "Dutch" Miles: Wow, he's...fast.
Captain Dare: He should be. He was amazing.
As Rookie made it up to the top, he found a table with a Personal Defence Weapon and four flash bangs on it.
Captain Dare: Pick up that P190 PDW and four flashbangs.
Looks like Rookie had to sacrifice his ACR, even though he can still use it. He swapped for the PDW and leaved the ACR behind. P190 was a 50-round PDW that fire armour/shield piecing rounds, and its magazine was load on the top.
Everyone from below watch Rookie stand in front of the straight rope. Rookie held the PDW's front grip and waits for Dare's instructions.
Captain Dare: On my go, I want you to rope down to the deck and rush to position 1. After that, you will storm down the stairs to position 2. Then hit position 3 and 4, following my precise instructions at each position. Grab the rope when you're ready.
Position numbers were steps for a recruit to clear all enemies in the obstacle course. Red arrows were marked on the floor, which guide the recruit to the finish line. Rookie step near the edge of the plat formed, stretched his neck around and decided to jump down right now.
Rookie: Here we go.
Rookie grabbed the rope and slide down until his feet hit the floor.
Captain Dare: Go! Go! Go!
His knees were bent, and he stood up and leveled his P190. Three targets appeared in front of him.
Captain Dare: Hit the targets!
Rookie start shooting at them, with several burst on every target. He cleared that room.
Captain Dare: Position 2, go!
By entering the room, Rookie followed the red arrows guiding to the next one.
Captain Dare: Flash bang, through the door!
He grabbed and threw a single flash bang and get cover behind the wall. The flash bang goes off with a blast of light.
Captain Dare: Position 4, go!
Entering the room, more targets appeared and Rookie immediately eliminated them with his P190.
Captain Dare: Position 5, move!
Next room, other targets come out in different spots. After Rookie took all of them out, he kept moving on. Another door appeared in front of him, so he got his flash bang ready.
Captain Dare: Flash bang, through the door!
He threw it and took cover. Once gone off, he charged in and attacked the targets.
Captain Dare: Final position, go! Sprint to the finish!
Rookie found the red circle painted on the floor. It should be the finish line, so mind as well run to there as quickly as possible. With two foot over the circle, he made it. He made his way out to meet the Eagle Team.
Buck: Pretty good Soap, but I seen better... Climb up the ladder if you want another go. Otherwise come over to the monitors for debrief.
Rookie: No thanks sir, I'm good to go.
Captain Dare: Very well Rookie...
An announcement echoed from a speaker, somewhere on the ceiling. Everyone listened.
Overlord: All personnel, this is Overlord. We're arriving planet Avro from Slipstream in two minutes; ordered 75th Rangers Regiment Team Fire Fox and 145th ODST Eagle Team to report at the Hanger Bay One in ten minutes.
Captain Dare: You heard him, let's get our stuff ready in two minutes! Move!