CHAPTER 2
The ship slowly hovered into the air and they soared to the capitol ship. The bird exited the atmosphere quite roughly despite the fact it was made to withstand trans-atmosphere travels. Six hours later the base ship came into view. The Sarge began with congratulations, and then told the men how lucky they were to be alive. "You see men, there were many that die down there today, and we won't let their sacrifice be in vein…" John drifted off, not caring about a word that the Sarge was saying. Too many died today but for the next battle he planned to change that.
The ship cautiously pulled into the docking bay, and was greeted by thunderous applause and cheering from the support crew left on board. The Sarge hopped out and jokingly took a bow and pointed to the ship as the others got out. Most of them were, traditionally, post battle cocky, raising their guns up and throwing their helmets like a high school graduation day. The Sarge took a light on his cigarand then walked to the armory and stowed his gun in the overhead compartment above his bed, the other marines followed his actions. John was modest and just followed nothing too special from him. He passed all the others on their way to the armory. Walking past the group of marines that requisitioned and returned weapons he went to the target range and obstacle course onboard the ship for some practice.
To get to the Target Range a path through the obstacle course was required. This range was unique from all of the others, but John was used. First there was the normal crawl under the barbed wire, which he did with ease. Next was the rope climb, which was difficult due to the lack of knots in the rope to hold onto, was required to climb the straight rope, which he accomplished in under 5 minutes. Crawling on the sleek metal platform, and next was just sliding down another rope. Someone once tried jumping it instead of sliding, R.I.P, though we were not too sure what he was remembered more of him, his accomplishments as a solder, or the unique way in which he was positioned when he hit the ground. Lastly came the timed run, in which John completed with time to tie his boots and get a drink. There was the end. To open the door to the target range, one was required to lift a certain amount of weight, which was determined by your previous performance, which in turn opened the door. John got under the weight lifting mechanism and with all his strength he pushes up, his muscles nearly bursting under his tight black training shirt. It's heavier than usual. The door slowly as he pushed harder opened, and surprisingly the Sarge jumped off the weight. "What were you doing" John asked. The Sarge just leaned his head in the direction of the Target Range, and the two went in.
John entered the room and crouched down while lifting his rifle. He peered down the sights of his rifle and a target mechanically popped up 30 feet away. Oneburst was emitted from the barrel ripping the target apart. Another popped up and the Sarge ripped it apart with a blast from his shotgun. "So kid." another target was blown apart by John's rifle "You got a great shot". Sarge tore one open with a slug from his shotgun once again. "Like I said before, I believe you can make this unit shine against all the others" The Sarge finished witha showing off behind the back shot. John fired one last burst at the final Target, tearing it into two pieces with a shot to the waists. "We'll see what I can do for us," John said as the door back to the rest of the ship opened. The Sarge laughed as he walked out with John beside him. John laughed too, and they went to the armory to turn in their weapons, and then continued to their rooms to retire for the night for some much, much deserved rest.