GRID 072-540, "THE FORGE", RTC MORRE'AC, MIFAAL, BRENTAAL SYSTEM - 2428 HOURS, DAY 5, WEEK 14, 3644 BBY


"...Up…"

"...Besh! Wake up, it's your turn on watch!"

Kat felt a slight kick to her right arm. "Ugh…" she sheepishly tried to wake up. Her body felt sore from a combination of exerting herself for the past 3 days and sleeping on the cold, hard floor. She stretched herself out, put on her chest rig and helmet before going to a window.

She took a look at the room - her squadmates from Team Alpha trying to go to sleep, her teammates gearing up for watch, Team Cresh still dozing off contently, and the two Drill Instructors with them - Sergeant Kaj'fra catching some sleep and Sergeant Paxe, silently watching them over. Kat forgot that they were there sometimes, which she found both impressive and creepy.

She looked out the small window, and looked up into the sky. The stars were blinking and twinkling. The quarter moon seemed to float among them. What a hell of a view. We don't get a lot of this back at Brentaal IV. The light pollution from the cities meant that the only time she only got to see the night skies when she went out hiking, far away from the towering buildings in the city.

She had just gotten up, and she was already bored after looking at the skies. She sighed at put on her night vision device. Firewatch was everyone's least part of the night. Nothing to see, and nothing to do. They couldn't talk to each other, except to report on anything they saw. To stave off the boredom, Kat would do things such as counting the stars, or make funny faces to her fellow guards patrolling the squad bays… if there's no instructors around. She could do nothing of that sort now.

The other thing to do is to entertain her thoughts.

It's been a hell of 12 weeks. Can't believe it's ending tomorrow. All the times I got smoked, all the push-ups, all the running, all the yelling. God, remember the time I dropped my rifle and CSGT Ra'az made the platoon march for HOURS next to it? It was full of sand. The amount of cleaning I had to do after that… Huh. Funny that I'm remembering God now, too. I never did until I came here. Even if it's just to go to services and get out of extra work… Mum's going to be pleased.

Thank the stars, God, and all above, my squad is decent, that helps. I'm not close with some of them, but at least I don't hate them. Remember the girl that went after me after I dropped my rifle in week 6? I don't even remember her name- we've never even talked before. Such pettiness… Which squad was she in…?... I don't care. I wonder how Aikern and C'alee are doing now? Poor C'alee. I know he can make it through - he's smart and listens to others. We're reaching the end now...

Just two more days to go, and we'll be Marines, and treated like Marines. No more being yelled at for petty stuff, no more having your locker tossed out, no more-

"Kat! You see anything from your end?" Rews sharply whispered. His dog-like ears were propped up, listening for enemies. She wondered if he could sense her thoughts too.

"Nope! All clear from here!" Rews returned with a thumbs up.

She looked outside while thinking of random things, from things such as "Can akk hounds be fully sentient, eventually?" to "What's my favourite flavour of field ration?"

When their watch time nearly ended at 0027 hours, they proceeded to wake up Team Cresh. Kat took a pack of ration cubes and downed it with a few swigs of water before trying to sleep as best she could.


GRID 072-540, 0248 HOURS

The entire squad had woken up, readying themselves up. Some went to relieve themselves of their natural processes while they still could, some readied their gear, checking for batteries, equipment and ammunition levels, and some were chowing down their rations. Kat had done all that, and was passing around what's left of her opened LG bottle to her squadmates.

"Alright, let's move! We've got at least 20 kilometers to hike, let's go!" Venn opened the door and the squad filed out. They all started hiking towards their objective's new grid, 175-600, at a much slower pace, having been tired out beyond belief despite their rest.

They reached a river. They expected it, having seen it in their briefing, but it looked much wider and deeper than what the maps show. Kat felt scared. They have all been taught how to swim - the only military branch being taught to do so - but she wasn't a good swimmer. Especially not with full gear AND pack. And especially not when she's tired.

"Hey, Venn… Can't we find a bridge or something?" "Something wrong?" "I don't think it's a good idea to swim across a flowing river with heavy gear while being tired," "You scared?" "Hell yes! If we get in trouble out here, it's going to take a long time for the SAR squads to come!" Venn looked down, then up, deep in thought.

"Find a long and thick tree branch. We're going to test this river out," "Aye, let' go!" Kat and the others ran back into the forest. They searched for the perfect branch. Then she heard someone yell, "Hey, is this one OK?" it was Mivaya - they all ran to her location. She found a branch that was 8 feet long and as thick as her arm. Kat, Plorr and Mivaya picked up the branch together and headed to the riverbank. They all took off their packs and rigs before picking up the branch again.

They all poked the branch into the riverside. It went in a quarter of the way in. They all looked at each other - they had to look at the center. "Alright. Xard, Laf'idi, go in and stay behind them. If they fall, try to pull them out to the side," "Roger," the two replied. The fivesome waded into the river until the water was almost at their knees. They felt the current flow through between their shins, and poked the branch diagonally towards the center. It went four-fifths of the way in.

"Drag it back," they did and felt a bump halfway through. They continued to pull it back at a different angle. "OK, put it back in and let it drift," They all pushed the branch into the water. The branch floated away at running speed. Not a good sign.

"Alright, let's not risk it, come back up here! We'll figure something out…" They waded through back up. Xard tripped over something and fell into the river. Plorr and the rest of the squad guarding near the banks, laughed before tripping herself. When Kat tried to prop herself over the riverbank, her hand slipped and she fell, fully submerged into the riverbank. At 130 pounds, the current almost managed to slip her away, only to be saved when Tuqr immediately grabbed her uniform, and then arm, the moment she slipped.

She climbed back up, coughing the water from her lungs a couple of times. "Give me a few minutes," "OK, 60 seconds," She took five deep breaths before she got her gear back on, shivering from the cold and wetness, and from almost drowning hours before the end of her training. "Hey, Tuqr! Thanks… a lot, really! I… I don't know-" "No problem-a! It's me-sa's job!" and patted Kat's shoulder twice before they all got into a single file. She tried to get back her bearing as they all quietly went over the map.

Finally, they all decided on a route. Or'clu, the quiet kid of the squad, held out his hand and helped her up. The squad hiked east towards the nearest bridge, a mile away. The sun was starting to rise. When they almost reached the bridge, they saw a welcome sight. Another squad was slowly trying to cross as well.

"Heeeeyyyy!" Venn called out. The other squad halted and pointed the rifles at them. "We're not droids!" "Thank the gods!" the squad leader said, and lowered their weapons. They waited for the squad. When they reached the bridge, they marched together across. The bridge was littered with disabled droids. An earlier squad had taken them out.

"What outfit are you with?" "Squad 02/0245," "Heading towards the battalion rally point" "Yeah…Good luck" "Good luck to you too," and the squad leader pushed his squad forward. Venn signalled the squad to stop, checked her map, and then ordered her squad northeast.

They went around a hill, and their feet were more worn out from hiking at an angle.

Their fatigue went away went they saw what greeted them - the battalion rally point. It was a small town of tents, with hundreds of small movements from the hillside near a web of trenches and fortifications a few hundred meters forward. Flashes of blaster bolts flew from both sides. Looks like there's others ahead of us, already…

"Come on, guys! Let's pick it up!" Venn yelled. The squad started speed walking. They expected some sort of surprise along, as they instructors always had in store for them. But there were none. Their spirits soared as they jogged along the road towards the rally point's entrance. There were two guard posts flanking the road. They approached them and a specialist directed them, "Report in your squad at the entrance tents," "Roger. Thank you, sir!"

They all went into a tent and lined up. Kat realised the squad in front of them were the one they ran into at the bridge. One of the squad members, caked in mud, flashed a smile at her, her teeth beaming through the dirt. They all left the tent and Squad 01/0435 stepped forward. "Your outfit?" the yellow-haired corporal at the computer said. "Squad 01/0435, sir," said Venn. He typed in something, then ordered. "You're four hours from elimination. Congratulations for making it…" 0803 hours. "Alright, your helmet chips, please?" "What for, sir?" "Just an assessment thing, RECRUIT. Come on now," Venn loudly sighed, annoyed at the word usage, and tapped the waterproof slot where the helmet chip sat to the rest of the squad.

They all did so, and handed in their chips. They sat off to one side of the tent. After about two minutes, the corporal called out their names and recruit numbers, and they took their chips and put them back in. "Best of luck in your final assessments, recruits," Final assessment? "Uhh… we're not done, yet?" "No, recruit. Gear up and get moving, now. Objective is on your chips," Venn shrugged and ordered them out," Kat turned on the mission objective in her helmet HUD. "Enemies are besieging our positions. Defend and hold Objective Coruscant," A simple objective… But for how long?

They knelt outside the tent. "Alright we have one last objective. We have to defend 'Objective Coruscant'. We don't know how long we have to do this… So let's get some ammo and equipment, I want to see you kriffing banthas at graduation!" They all let out a cheer and moved towards the supply tent. They each took at least a medium bottle of liquified gas, and extra grenades, batteries, rations and magazines.

Kat stuffed as much as she could into her pack, chest rig, belt and uniform pockets. The MCUU's two arm, two leg and four torso pockets provided plenty of room, but it also meant it weighed her down. she didn't care… they don't have to walk far anyways - they're on a defense mission.

They moved uphill on the slope - "Objective Coruscant" was 500 meters away. When the squad went over the slope, they kept themselves low, as the "enemy" was attacking. No one wanted to be shot 200 meters away from their final objective. They moved through the web of trenches, their helmet HUDs directing their way through the mud filled ground. Finally, they saw vaguely familiar faces. We must be at our company's section… Her helmet HUD was full of friendly indicators around them.

Then she saw C'alee. He was wet from head to toe, speed walking. "Hi C'al-" "Can't talk now Kat! Gotta go!" She decided to shrug it off, and continued on. They finally reached "Objective Coruscant". It was a section of trenches. They passed through members of Concord Company, 5th Training Battalion. The indicators then showed their platoon members. Venn ordered, "We're here. Let's find an empty section and hole up," they looked around their sections. Kat even saw Aikern, crouching in a bunker. She called up, "Aikern!" and waved. He gave her a thumbs up before she went on her way.

They finally found an empty trench section, indicated for them. "Set up your firing positions. My squad will be in the bunker," "Roger that, Venn.." Kat put down her pack and stayed crouching. "Venn here… Be advised, enemy spotted, 300 to… 500 meters up ahead, fire at will," Here. We. Go.

Kat adjusted her optic to 4X. Then, she peeked up from the trench and started squeezing off shot… after shot… after shot. From that distance, and with that many people firing at once, she never knew if she hit anything or which ones she hit. The enemies seem to be among the hills or from the opposite trench network.

As the time went on, the rifle felt heavier, and heavier in her hands. Her reloads became slower. Her aim shakens up. She crouches down, and takes a breather. How long has it been?... 1340 hours? Dammit.

She rose up, and started to fire again at the seemingly phantom enemy, and ducked whenever the bolts got too close for comfort. She slowed down and began to aim her shots more carefully as her ammo went lower and lower.

"Squad, this is Venn. We'll have only two teams on the line for now. Team Cresh, get yourselves some extra ammo and chow. You have 30 minutes. Besh next, then Aurek. Venn out,"

I'm going to go insane if this doesn't end sooner.

But they don't have a choice. So Kat continued firing. At this point, she was running on autopilot, trying to think of the enemy in front pain, the fatigue and the aches.

She spotted an enemy droid crawling towards their trench, and fired four shots. Two hits, and the droid stopped moving - her only "kill" so far.

She reloaded, and fired three shots. She squeezed the trigger… and no bolt came out. She squeezed again… still nothing. "My rifle's jammed!Cover me, hold on…!"

She sat down, reached into her pack for her cleaning kit, set it out best she could in the dirty and narrow trenches and opened the receivers.

Dirt buildup. Of course. How could I be so stupid to forget?

She shook both upper and lower receivers before giving a quick clean-up at both receivers and the magazine well. It wasn't thorough, but it'll do for now.

She assembled her rifle, put away the cleaning kit, and started firing. Five minutes later, Team Cresh returned.

"It's our turn to rest. Let's go, back of the line, get our stuff!" Rews said. "If you want to, go on ahead… I have all my stuff here. I'm too lazy to go back - I'll stay at the bunker 'till you guys come,"

"Suit yourself, Merrick," and they headed off. Kat took the remainder of her LG, spare magazines, and rations before retreating to the bunker where Aurek was.

"Knock knock," she whispered as she went in. The members of Team Aurek were firing down from the 3-meter tall bunker. "Mind if I stay over," "Just don't mess up the place. We'll have guests over," joked Plorr. Kat sat down, filled her spare magazines, and had a quick chow-down before leaning back.

"Wake up, princess. Your team's back," Kat jolted up from her unintentional nap and hurriedly scurried back to her position while Cresh occupied the bunker in lieu of Aurek. "You're late, Merrick," said Laf'idi while firing downrange. "Sorry, the chow made me sleepy," she said as she reloaded the rifle.

They continued fighting through the day up until the morning of the next day. None of them got any proper sleep that night.

The fire slowly died down near sunrise. Their comms crackled, "All units this net, this is Command. The enemy has retreated. Congratulations. Regroup at your respective rally points. Command, out ,"

The entire planet seemed to shake as they all cheered, screamed and yelled. It was over. They had made it through to the end. They withdrew back to the rally point and were corralled into formation by platoons.

Their drill instructors came forward, and proceeded to pin the Marine Corps insignia - a shield overlaid by a pair of delta wings and crossed rifles - onto their left collar, indicating their new status as Marines.

Kat got hers from CSGT Ra'az. Her eyes began to swell up as she stopped in front of her. It got worse as she took the pin from her aide and pinned it on her. Her eyes began to water. Ra'az put her first over her own pin, beckoning Kat to follow.

She couldn't hold it back when Ra'az held her hand out and said,

"Congratulations, MARINE,"

Kat cried as her dirtied hand firmly shook hers. She was one of the reasons she got this far.

"Thank you, sir!"

There was barely any recruits that had dry eyes throughout the ceremony that morning.

A human male in his late fifties, wearing the Marines' grey and blue service uniform came up to the stage in front of them. He had a chest full of military ribbons and decorations, and his rank insignia was unmistakable - a full colonel.

"I will make this short - Congratulations for making through to the end. You have been forged by the fires of The Blaze, and as such, you are now considered Marines. There will be a long path ahead for you all, but for now, take pride in the fact that you are now a part of the Galactic Republic's finest fighting force. I thank you all for signing up, and for putting in your best effort. I wish you all the best in your future service," and left the stage.

The instructors turned and yelled out, "PUH-TOON! FALL OUT! DIS...MISSED!"

They all were directed to the dropships waiting around the area. As they rose into the sky, Kat took one last look at The Forge, in all its ugliness and beauty.

I'm finally… A Republic Marine!


Reviews and Author's Notes

Finally, we're done with boot camp! Constructive criticism and reviews are welcome! :D