Ermey had taken the five of them to a much more secluded range as he wanted to test out what they could be good at. Laying around were some support machine guns, some sniper rifles and a couple if factory grade Uzi's to be used. Ermey soon marched along as he wanted to get them used to the weapons.
"Since you five did such a fantastic job on the range, let me see what you're capable of. Let's start with the sniper rifles so grab some Winchester M70's so we can begin your training. Your first target is about 1,000 yards away and will increase ever 100 yards to 1500 yards. I like to see how you will handle out there." Ermey soon gave them their rifles as they laid down to get more accurate with the far away targets. Crowkit was looking down the sights for the rifle at the first target as he fired. The shot piercing the center at the 1,000 yard mark. Squirrelkit fired next piercing the target. Whitekit did the same thing as she managed to hit the target. Pyle and Cowboy followed up as they were able to nail the targets. However the farther the targets got, the bigger the difference it became. Since bullets had a drop, their shots were getting lower and lower down. Pyle and Whitekit were able to nail them easily. Ermey looked at their shots. "Private Sky, Private Pyle, you seem to be excellent with the sniper. Cowboy, Crowkit and Squirrelkit, your shots got lower down the farther the target became. Maybe this next test would test to see if you are able to fight up close since I bet you want to get personal with your enemies, He soon took their Winchester rifles away as he replaced them with Uzi's which were automatic pistols but much bigger.
"Sir right sir." They responded as he handed them the Uzi's and the 32 round magazines that came with it. 9mm Parabellum rounds were chambered into the weapon. They loaded them up as the targets began to appear.
"Even though these weapons have a slow rate of fire at 600 rounds a minute doesn't mean you can spray this weapon all day long. It has very strong recoil. Burst firing is the best way to keep your fire steady so you can hit the targets." Ermey instructed them. Soon he looked at them as the targets were beginning to appear. "Begin!"
The five of them were beginning to pepper the targets to see if they could get any hits. Pyle and Whitekit were neck and neck at the targets as they were trying to put one or two holes into the target to be accurate. Squirrelkit was having trouble managing the Uzi's recoil. She was trying to keep it steady but she was having trouble since she was used to having some of the weight at the front. Crowkit and Cowboy were trying to be accurate as Crowkit was trying to use one paw to spray it down but the weapon required two to handle effectively. Ermey was watching their results as he waited for the magazines to be completely empty.
"Looks like we got ourselves a lot of lead down at the targets, Squirrelkit, looks like you're not cut out for the role of a SMG cat. And neither is Crowkit and Private Cowboy. Their shots aren't accurate as the weapon was bouncing all over the place. Pyle and Whitekit did okay but it's clear that these weapons aren't meant for any of you. We'll try the Support gunner test." Ermey demonstrated the results. It was clear that these cats weren't cut for handing a sub-machine gun like an Uzi. However there was still one more test to contend with. Ermey soon took the Uzi's away as he soon began bringing out the final guns one at a time. They were really big as they looked like they could be handled by any cat that had the strength to hold them. He soon brought out several 50 round belts to feed the behemoth weapons to provide fire. Whitekit picked up the weapon as if it was the toy that she mentioned using back home on day 1. Ermey soon gave them each a belt as he explained what the final test was. "This is the M60. Used to provide support and cover fire when fleeing or assaulting a position. Remember, don't continuous fire this weapon with all of that ammo; you will break the barrel if overused. Fire in short bursts or let the weapon breathe in between shots. Best way to fire these weapons is if you get down onto a surface to provide support. Now go." The targets popped up as the cats began to slowly pepper them with the bullets. They had laid down to nullify the recoil as well as letting the M60 get a better feed from it. Squirrelkit was uncomfortable with lugging an M60 around the battlefield as well as Crowkit. Cowboy Pyle and Whitekit were finding no trouble with the weapon as they continued to fire. Their targets were bottles of beer as the 50 rounds would be able to destroy 250 bottles.
"Sir this is a great way to cut down alcohol intake sir." Squirrelkit mewed as she continued to see how many bottles she could destroy with the M60. Ermey looked at her as she continued to eat away at the small belt.
"I never really like beer that much. I only prefer shots." Ermey responded. He soon waited for the ammo to be completely consumed as he decided to take the results. "Looks like you completely annihilated all of those bottles. I will check with the other recruits to see where you fit on the firing squad and what weapons you would be the most appropriate to using." Ermey walked out as they got up. Whitekit still having a grudge on Pyle as she looked at him.
It was later that day as the kits were back on the parade deck going over sections. Squirrelkit was waiting for hers as Ermey walked over to her. Squirrelkit gulped as she was waiting to be questioned about her section.
"What's your sixth general order?" Ermey asked her as he wanted to know what her orders were. Squirrelkit didn't know as she decided to take a guess on it.
"Sir, the private's sixth general order is to receive and obey and to pass on to the sentry who relieves me… All orders… Sir, the private's sixth… Sir the private has been instructed but he does not know sir!" Squirrelkit responded. It was clear she was stuttering, messing up before coming to the conclusion that she does not know. Ermey didn't want to treat her too hard seeing how far she had come to, but she was wrong.
"You slimy scumbag, get on your face and give me twenty-five!" Ermey gloated at her as she got the answer wrong. He decided to make her do 25 push-ups as a result.
"Sir, aye-aye sir!" Squirrelkit responded as she got down and began doing her push-ups. Ermey walked over to Private Pyle.
"How many counts in that movement you've just executed?" Ermey asked Pyle. Pyle snapped to him as he gave his answer.
"Sir, four counts, sir!" Pyle responded as he gave the correct number of counts that he had executed. Ermey wanted to know more from him.
"What's the idea of looking down in the chamber?" Ermey asked him if he knew what the phrase meant. Pyle soon spoke.
"Sir that's the guarantee that the private is not giving the inspecting officer a loaded weapon, sir!" Pyle responded as he spoke that the answer was right. Ermey nodded as he had a couple more questions for Pyle as he wanted to figure out what it was.
"What's your fifth general order?" Ermey asked him as he was wondering what that order was. Pyle soon responded on the dot.
"Sir, the private's fifth general order is to quit my post only when properly relieved, sir!" Pyle responded as he knew what that order meant. Ermey decided to give him the last question to Pyle.
"What's this weapon's name, Private Pyle?" Ermey asked him as he was holding up the M14 rifle. Pyle soon responded as he spoke.
"Sir, the private's weapons name is Charlene, sir." Pyle responded. Ermey smiled as it was clear it was the smile of an old battle harden tom who was laughing at a good joke. He was impressed with how far he had got.
"Private Pyle, you are definitely born again hard! Hell, I may even allow you to serve as a rifleman in my beloved Corps." Ermey responded. Pyle looked at him as he spoke.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Pyle responded as Squirrelkit finished as she shot up.
"I heard everything that went on and you've got this far I've seen I guess I did teach you everything." Squirrelkit responded. Pyle turned to her.
"Don't bring up teaching me how to pee." Pyle responded as he was ready to laugh at his own joke.
The next day rolled around as they were doing their final cadence as they were jogging along the road as their daily jogs were coming to an end. Ermey was leading the last one back to the barracks.
"I don't want no teenage queen." Ermey lead it as the kits were jogging along with their rifles.
"I don't want no teenage queen." The kits responded jogging along. Ermey nodded as he said the next phrase.
"I just want my M14." Ermey lead the next phrase. The kits nodded as they listened before responding.
"I just want my M14." The kits responded. Ermey soon spoke next as they were getting close.
"If I die in the combat zone." Ermey chanted. The kits were following up behind him.
"If I die in the combat zone." The kits responded as Ermey nodded as he continued to chant.
"Box me up and ship me home." Ermey continued the chant. The kits responded as they chanted along.
"Box me up and send me home." The kits responded as they were getting close.
"Pin my medals upon my chest." Ermey continued to chant. The kits listened as they soon repeated after him.
"Pin my medals upon my chest." The kits responded. Ermey was seeing they were getting near.
"Tell my mom I've done my best." Ermey gave the last chant out to them. The kits wanted to finish this up as they wanted to do this perfectly.
"Tell my mom I've done my best." The kits responded. Ermey soon stopped them right in front of their barracks.
"Wonderful job all of you. Keep this up as we only have four more days together before heading into the field." Ermey soon let them use some of their free time as they could catch a break but they would be up tomorrow morning to jog again.
That day came as they were soon all jogging together along the asphalt path as they were still loosely organized. Squirrelkit and Pyle were jogging ahead as Ermey was supervising. Whitekit knew she couldn't compete with them anymore seeing how far they had come.
"Graduation is only a few days away and the recruits of platoon 392 are salty. They are ready to eat their own guts and ask for seconds." Ermey began to the two of them. Pyle kept jogging along as Squirrelkit turned to him as she spoke.
"Sir, it is right that you've seen how much we changed since the day we arrived there on the first day. But they say the more we hate you the more that we will learn from you. You are hard to see us try our best but you are fair to correct us to see if we didn't know anything, sir." Squirrelkit spoke as soon some green smoke came up. The cats went faster pointing their bayonets to the smoke as they charged through. This was part of their training to make them more ferocious fighters.
"The other drill instructors are proud to see that you're growing beyond our control. The Marine Corps does not want robots. The Marine Corps wants killers. The Marine Corps wants to build indestructible warriors, cats without fear." Ermey responded as they continued jogging. Pyle looked up as he was going to speak. He soon forgot as he kept jogging.
The last few days soon dwindled down to nothing as the morning of the final day before being shipped out. Ermey formed a circle around the cats as he was going to speak to them.
"Today, you cats are no longer maggots. Today you are Marines. You're part of a brother or sister hood." Ermey told them. He soon lead them out to the parade deck to where they would graduate and move on to the next stage in their careers.
All the graduating Platoons were gathered together on the parade field as graduation day was here. Some of the cats there were waiting as they were getting ready for a good time. Leafkit and Mothwing were looking at Squirrelkit and Crowkit. Leafkit could still see the shine in Crowkit's eyes as he nodded with a smile. It was clear that he missed her a lot. A parade was being sounded as the cats were marching along. Ermey soon gave out a speech to the cats as he was getting them ready for combat.
"From now on, until the day you die, wherever you are, every marine is your brother or sister. Most of you will go to Vietnam. Some of you will not come back. But remember this: Marines die. That's what we're here for! But the Marine Corps Lives forever. And that means you will live forever!" Ermey gave his speech to make sure the cats had high morale. The cats cheered as Leafkit huddled Crowkit as it meant that they will be on the field together.
It was the last night as the kits were given their squad code as they were going to go to war. Ermey was giving them their numbers one by one.
"Pickett!" Ermey called over. Spiderkit came running over to him.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Spiderkit responded as he was going to get his number. Ermey soon gave him his number and where he was assigned.
"O-three-hundred, Infantry." Ermey gave him his code. He was ready to call out the next cat. "Paw-jam." Crowkit came running over.
"Sir, yes sir!" Crowkit responded as he was wondering what he was assigned to. Ermey turned to him.
"O-three-hundred, Infantry." Ermey responded as Crowkit knew what his code was. Ermey called out to the next cat. "Adams." Rabbitkit came running over.
"Sir yes sir!" Rabbikit responded. Ermey had seen the Skyclan kit do well as he had a special assignment for him.
"Eighteen-hundred, Engineers, you go out and find mines." Rabbitkit nodded as Ermey called out the next cat he wanted to see. "Cowboy!" Cowboy came running over as he heard his name.
"Sir yes sir!" Cowboy responded. Ermey looked at him for a moment before assigning him his number.
"O-three-hundred, Infantry." Ermey responded as Cowboy nodded. "Joker!" Ermey called out. Squirrelkit looked up at him as he read out her rank.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Squirrelkit responded as she waited for her rank. Ermey began to read it.
"Forty-two-twelve, Basic Military Journalism." Ermey paused as he knew that rank didn't make any sense at all and he was ready to change her rank. "You gotta be shitting me, Joker! You think you're Mickey Spillane? Do you think you're some kind of fucking writer?" Ermey asked her as he was trying to be as calm as possible.
"Sir, I wrote for my high school newspaper, sir!" Squirrelkit spoke out as she told him she was a natural for creating news. Ermey knew that she wasn't cut out for being in the papers but as a marine marching along with her fellow friends.
"Oh my Starkit, you're not a writer, you're a killer!" Ermey told her as he wanted to see her get her paws dirty and not be some kind of timid photographer.
"Sir, a killer, yes, sir!" Squirrelkit responded as Ermey turned to her friend Pyle.
"Gomer Pyle!" Ermey called out to him. Pyle didn't respond as he was completely withdrawn as his eyes were half open. It felt like he was floating around in space. "Gomer Pyle!" Ermey called out to him a second time before lightly slapping him to get his attention. Pyle soon looked at him as Pyle looked up at him.
"Sir, yes, sir." Pyle responded as it was clear that there was a change to him. Ermey didn't know that his recruit was a section 8.
"You forgot your fucking name? "O-three-hundred, Infantry. You made it." Ermey asked him if he forgot who he was. Pyle soon looked at him as Ermey continued to assign ranks. "Perkins." Shrewkit came running to him.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Shrewkit responded as Ermey gave him his rank.
"O-three-hundred, Infantry." Ermey responded giving him his rank. He soon chose another name. "Snowball."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Snowball came running as Ermey gave him his rank.
"O-three-hundred, Infantry." Ermey assigned him. Snowball nodded as he was ready to assign the next cat. "Rottweiler." Creekkit came running over.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Creekkit responded. Ermey was ready to give him his assignment.
"O-three-hundred, Infantry." Ermey nodded as he went to the next cat. "Branch."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Nettlekit responded as he went to speak to him. Ermey gave out his rank.
"Eighteen-hundred, Engineers. You will help Adams to find mines." Ermey told him as he wanted to pull another cat out to give them their ranks. "Butterfly."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Plumkit responded as she was looking at him. Ermey soon gave Plumkit her rank.
"O-three-hundred, Infantry." Ermey assigned to her as Plumkit nodded. He was just about done. "Sky!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Whitekit responded as she wanted to know what her rank was. Ermey soon assigned Whitekit her rank.
"O-three-hundred, Infantry." Ermey assigned her as he had one cat left on the list. "Luna!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Leafkit responded as she was getting her rank and position. Ermey soon assigned her rank to her.
"Twenty-four-hundred, Medical. Your job is to save and treat injured and sick marines." Ermey assigned. Leafkit nodded. Squirrelkit looked at Pyle as he looked completely withdrawn from himself. It was clear she needed to speak to Ermey about this as she was worried that Pyle had snapped completely. She needed to find out what was up.
[A/N]: Graduation day for the kits as they are now marines. Also FreeEcho, Crowpool is still the main ship but I definitely wanted to put Leafkit, Mothwing and Crowkit together when they get to Vietnam. So they will get some scenes together. However this is only part 1 of the story.
Also do you want to see Pyle completely snap or consolidate his feelings to Squirrelkit before they move out to Vietnam? Leave your review to see where you want to go. Will write down both possibilities to you. See you next chapter. That is all.