An Author's Nightmare 2: Going Underground 5AE Chapter 8: Training and MOS II, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

CHAPTER 8

Training and MOS II

Early the next morning, training began. Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor sat at a table within a small lab room with table and chairs, built somewhat like a college biology laboratory. All five furries are all wearing the black jumpsuits and boots that were in the locker found yesterday by Ryan.

Each character had mixed feeling about what was going to happen. Sonic seemed excited but was not too fond of his attire. Sonia did not much care but knew it would be a huge benefit in her fight against Robotnik after what he did to her caretaker. Manic was jumping joy and he loved wearing full black. Cyrus felt like this was a great way to exact revenge on what Robotnik did to his father. Trevor also wants revenge and believes using this new training can help him.

"Black's not my color," Sonia said looking at her black battle dress uniform.

"Hey, sis, just think of it. We'll be like real Green Berets," Sonic said.

"Yeah, imagine the first girl Green Beret," Manic said chuckling. Sonia nodded to that, knowing that all American Special Forces positions are closed to females except police SWAT, FBI HRT, and Coast Guard TACLET. "Well, me, I'd personally like to be a Navy SEAL."

"No way! Not me!" Sonic shouted. He knew that Navy SEALs mostly operate in the water, which is Sonic's biggest fear. It was no mistake of Sonic being hydrophobic. "You take the water, I like being on dry land."

While Sonic said his last sentence, they heard a door open from behind them. Like classroom students, all five heads turned and faced the door. Walking in is Ryan himself. He wore the black uniform from yesterday. Because it was made in a cartoon world, it looked like Ryan was photoshopped. Ryan looked as if a photograph was taken of him and cartoon animators drew a uniform on him. All of Ryan was covered except his neck and head. His face was also clean and shaven, clearing off of his little shadow on his face.

"Well, seems like you guys are active and ready," Ryan said happily. He was excited to be teaching his favorite cartoon characters what he knows to be a Special Forces Operator. He remembered assisting in instructing a guerilla group in Abkhazia years ago.

"Oh yeah, lay it on us, Ryan," Manic proudly said. Ryan stood in front of the five of them and sat on the edge of a table. He began his lecture.

"Well, I'll begin with the basic idea. United States Army Special Forces is the most elite, most disciplined, and the most honored unit in the world. As a Special Forces Operator, your jobs are to operate in dangerous territories far away from the main friendly force deep behind enemy lines. If you are caught or killed, your fellow forces will disavow any knowledge of your existence," Ryan stated. "Now, usually you must go through a physical to see if you are qualified for joining. After that, you would go through a 24-day period called Selection, which will test you to your limits if you really want this job. However, since we are running low on time, we'll jump right into the Qualification Course."

Later that morning, Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor were deep in training. They all wore their body armor, helmets, and each carried an MP5 submachine gun. Manic was speeding the van through a valley far away from Robotropolis. He skidded the van to a halt and immediately jumped out of the side car door. The back door to the van snapped open and Sonic, Sonia, Cyrus, and Trevor jumped out of the back and dove being a set of large rocks.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Manic called out joining them.

In a second, all five got up and ran almost suicidal-like toward a makeshift door frame suspended by a set of wooden boards. Standing next to the door was Ryan staring at a stopwatch.

As soon as all five furries zipped past Ryan and through the makeshift door, Ryan stopped the watch and looked at the time. Although the five furries could not see the time on it, Ryan did sigh like he was unimpressed.

Most of the day, the five furries have been running laps around the large valley carrying their heavy equipment on their backs. Ryan stood on top of the Sonic Underground van observing them.

Boom! The door exploded!

Manic and Cyrus were inside of a large maze-like complex made out of plywood. It looks like a CQB training quarters for police, which is exactly what it is. Earlier, Cyrus planted a small explosive on the door which blew it off its hinges.

Manic and Cyrus ran through the blown-open door, keeping the muzzles of their submachine guns off of each other, and were faced against a poster of a SWAT Bot holding an innocent Mobian at laser-gun point. Manic aimed his MP5 at the picture and squeezed the trigger. A single bullet burst with Manic showing no signs of recoil.

After the gunshot rang out, both furries stopped and looked closer at the poster. At the same time, Ryan, who was also in the room, walked up to the poster and was disappointed at what he saw. The bullet impacted the innocent furrie's hand.

"That ain't going to get it," Ryan said to Manic.

Sonic and Sonia slowly crept through the maze being as silent as they can. Sonia led up front while Sonic stayed close behind. The two were taught by Ryan how to clear rooms. So far, they were doing well.

Suddenly, just as Sonia and Sonic crossed in a room, Ryan came from out of nowhere behind them. He held his right hand, finger and thumb in the shape of a gun.

"Bang," Ryan said casually with his finger and thumb pointing behind Sonic's head. Sonic and Sonia sighed in disappointment when they turned around to see a disapproved look on Ryan's face. They knew being a Green Beret was going to be hard, but Ryan was really testing their limits. It was necessary because a simply mistake like not checking a corner could get a team member killed.

Later that evening, the five furries threw some heavy punches on five separate punching bags in Cyrus' laboratory. The rest of that evening, they were getting better in what they were doing. Manic improved his marksmanship skills as well as everyone else. In fact, Ryan told them that all five of them were qualified for the Expert Marksmanship Badge.

The next day, Ryan stood on top of a hill in the large valley. He stood on the edge of the hill with his hands in his pockets waiting on the five furries. After their mile run, the five were forces to climb up the 70 degree steep slope to reach Ryan at the top. Ryan was pleased to see all five of them helping each other up, which creates a bond of teamwork. In Ryan experience, he knew that teamwork was like breathing, it is needed for survival.

The five finally reached the top and met up with Ryan. He could tell they were all out of breath but was pleased to see smiles on their faces as well. They were like Ryan in some ways; even though it was hard they enjoyed the benefits of what they were going to get in return. It was painful but it was also worth it.

FOUR YEARS AGO

Ryan was nervous. He had a right to be, public speaking was considered the most popular fear and Ryan had it as well. He had to give an oral presentation to Sergeant Maxwell and the other instructors about the M4 rifle. Being a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant means he had to instruct foreign forces on how to handle and use weapons. He had to prove that to his instructors posing as foreign military forces.

Ryan, dressed in his full Special Ops gear, approached the six instructors all of which are sitting or taking a knee on the ground in front of him. Ryan took in a deep breath and remembered what he had to say. He extended out the M4 rifle to the instructors and began his lecture.

"This is the Colt M4A1 Carbine Assault Rifle. It's a five point five six by forty-five millimeter two-two-three assault rifle," Ryan explained. So far, so good. "It is gas operated, capable of firing in semi or 16 rounds per second on full automatic. It is the main primary weapon in our military and law enforcement forces. It only weights six pounds loaded with a 30-round magazine and three pounds empty, making it light and quick to aim."

Ryan then grabbed the butt stock and pulled on the plastic switch which lifted the bolt out of its notch. With the notch released, the butt pulled back and slid in place. He released the switch which locked the butt stock.

"It has an adjustable butt stock for longer ranges or CQB, that is Close Quarters Battle for those who don't know," Ryan continued. He saw the instructors nod, meaning he is doing a good job so far. "It has a maximum effective range for a point target of 600 meters and for an area target of 350 meters, making it a very accurate weapon."

Ryan then closed the butt stock and pointed at the grip, which is covered with four detachable heat shields.

"This rifle has five picatinny rails," Ryan said pointing to them. "There are four around the grip and one just above the iron sight for different attachments. Various attachments include ACOG scope, red-dot aim points, M203 and M320 grenade launchers, PEQ-2 lights, forward hand grips, bipods, and much more to give your weapon more lethality. The front barrel can be fitted with a sound suppressor which can make your weapon a sniper rifle as well as an assault rifle."

Suddenly, the five instructors stood up and stepped a few feet from Ryan. Ryan could not tell, but he knew they were discussing his lecture. His heart was beating a mile a minute, hoping for a good verdict.

Finally, the five instructors spread and faced Ryan. Ryan instantly saw a smile on Sergeant Maxwell's face.

"That was satisfactory, Perreault," Maxwell said. Ryan sighed with relief. Many times, Ryan was in fear of failing this course. He always thought Selection was the worse part, just get past Selection and he got it made. However, he is learning the hard way that Selection was the leased of his problems. Anything could happen to him, all it takes is time to tell.

PRESENT DAY

It was late evening where the clouds are turning pink. Manic laid on his front as his stared down the 15-power scope of his M-24 sniper rifle. He also wore a large Ghillie suit matching the tall grass around him. Laying on his front next to Manic on the left side was Ryan. Ryan also has his face painted dark green. Again, just like everything else in this cartoon world, it looks like the paint was cartoon photoshopped on his face, yet it felt very real to Ryan.

Ryan stared through a set of binoculars parallel to Manic. A kilometer away is a pineapple on top of a large rock. Manic kept his crosshairs on the pineapple, waiting for Ryan's orders.

"Remember, Manic," Ryan whispered to him. "Fast is smooth, smooth is quick. Rear sight, front sight focus, estimate distance to target, control breathing, and trigger squeeze. Don't let anything distract you."

Manic did not respond. He was taught that talking would compromise the team. Ryan tricked him earlier when he said not to talk and Manic replied with an "okay" which got him in trouble. This time, Manic kept his mouth shut.

Manic looked down at his tablet notebook with a detailed sketch of the area and grids. He estimated that the target, the pineapple, was 870 meters, so Manic adjusted the distance knob on the right side of the scope.

Manic then licked his glove-less finger tip and stuck it out in the air slightly. He felt a cool breeze coming in at his one o'clock, at leased a tiny chill. He then carefully adjusted the knob on top of his scope, which was the wind correction. Carefully, he moved the scope to the left, making the gun point slightly right. Ryan was pleased in Manic using everything he was taught.

Now was the moment of truth. Manic slid his finger on the trigger and was ready to shoot. He took in a breath and let it out. He then in haled deeply, exhaled deeply, inhaled deeply, and held his breath. Within a second, Manic squeezed the trigger. The gun emitted with a loud bang sound, echoing throughout the valley.

It at leased a second, the pineapple exploded into millions of chunks. The bullet itself impacted the cliff wall not too far away. Ryan saw this through his binoculars and was pleased at the sight.

"Outstanding work, Manic," Ryan said happily. When Ryan turned to see Manic, Manic was no longer laying next to him. Ryan turned his head behind him and already saw Manic drawling away, staying concealed within the tall grass. Ryan could not help but smile. Manic also used his knowledge that, the exact second after a sniper takes his shot, he must get out of the area as quickly as possible.

Later that night in a grassy field of the valley, Ryan sat on a rock looking into the empty field.

"Whenever you're ready," Ryan called out while looking at his stopwatch.

Suddenly, a figure jumped out from behind a rock, out of nowhere, and tossed something deeper in the valley. As soon as that object was thrown, the figure disappeared. The thrown object looked like a miniature spray can. As soon as it impacted an area behind a set of trees and posters of SWAT Bots and innocent Mobians, it exploded with a puff of clear white smoke. It was tear gas!

Immediately after the tear gas was released, five shadowy figured leaped out of the grass almost out of nowhere. Anyone could have mistaken the valley to be empty. The five figures, obviously the furries, ran toward the source of the gas each wearing gas masks. The five ran within the area and, in under a second and a half, all the SWAT Bots posters were shot up by the MP5's. None of the posters with the innocent civilians were harmed.

"Clear!" Sonic shouted; his voice slightly muffled due to wearing the gas mask.

Ryan stood up from the rock and approached the posters as soon as the tear gas slowly died down. He looked at them all and then turned a stern face at the five furries. The stern face then smiled and he clapped at them.

"Outstanding work, guys, and girl," Ryan said to them.

"United States Army Special Forces is a life-saving unit, not a life-taking one," Ryan said to the five furries back in the classroom. "That's why, when I went through further advanced training, I trained along side the FBI, Secret Service, and other Special Operations units in the world."

It was true. Not only was Ryan trained to teach indigenous forces how to operate like soldiers and use weaponry, he also taught police, feds, and other units as well. One of his later assignments, before being taken to this cartoon world, was to teach the British Special Air Service about fire and movement with heavy weapons. It was not uncommon for other national units to train together. When Ryan went through advanced Close Quarters Battle, one of his instructors was a German GSG-9 operator.

The night was dark in the forest and almost empty. Anybody could have been fooled for it to be empty because Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor crept through the woods as quiet as they can, keeping their MP-5 submachine guns pointed away from each other. This time, all five were equipped with AN-PVS7-Delta night vision goggles, which were attached to their black helmets. The front of their helmets had a hinge on it which allowed for night-vision goggles to be mounted on. It could also allow the user to flip them on and off of their heads without having to shut them down.

Everything was going fine until Manic accidentally tripped over a log and fell face first in a pile of leaves and twigs. Manic just laughed at his clumsiness. Soon, the other furries were laughing too.

"Smooth move, Manic," Sonia said giggling. Suddenly, their laughter was stopped when Ryan approached them from out of nowhere with a flashlight in his hand.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," Ryan said, not amused. "I guess if I was deaf, I would know you were here. But while you're laughing, there are lots of Resistance freedom fighters who are counting on you to take down Robotnik's tyranny. They don't want you to fail. Get it right."

Ryan flipped his flashlight off discouragingly. Ryan has pushed these five into teaching them everything he knew about warfare. Not only that, he taught them how to teach others how to fight against Robotnik when the time comes.

It has only been a few days since training began. Already, the five were quick learners. If they were on Earth, they would most likely already be Green Berets. Ryan was so proud of them.

It was a dark and windy night and the moon was nearly gone, almost like a tiny fingernail. A flash bang grenade was thrown into an area of the forest and it blew up, giving the area a temporary amount of light. Immediately, all five furries ran through the forest, weapons ready, and covering all areas around them. They were performing a leap-frog through the forest. A leap-frog was then a section of the team moved forward in a flanking arch while the other team stayed back to provide cover. Soon, the moving team would stop and the other would move in an arch as well. They constantly traded places as they moved to within an area.

Soon enough, the five made it to where they were supposed to be. They made it to an area with a lot of hidden SWAT Bots mannequins. They immediately started bursting live rounds at them. In under a second, so quickly, all the mannequins were shot down. Ryan was pleased to see their reflexes were outstanding. These five furries were like machines, they were awesome.

"Outstanding, guys!" Ryan called down to them. Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor looked up to see Ryan sitting in a tree. All five of them were proud of themselves, but they knew the training was not completely over yet.

Before going to bed, Sonic was throwing a series of punches on the punching bag in Cyrus' lab. It was discovered that Ryan should stay here to prevent Robotnik from recapturing him. Sonic remembered years ago when he first met his brother and sister. They were led to a forest and an ancient temple by monks to receive training on being a freedom fighter, but Ryan's training was harsher and more demanding. Plus, it required the usage of weapons and being stealthy. The Army commercials were right; they said they would help anyone find their inner strength. Sonic never knew he could be stealthy until Ryan forced it out of him.

As Sonic was beating on the punching bag, Ryan walked in from behind him. Ryan hung up his uniform and was now just wearing his black shirt and BDU pants he wore when he was being taken into this cartoon world.

"Hey, Sonic," Ryan said.

"Hey, Ryan," Sonic said panting.

"Where is everybody?"

"Asleep."

"You guys did very well."

"Thanks, we were taught by the best. Repelling, land navigation, team movement, close quarters battle, and even peeling. You taught it all, man."

"I'm glad to have been of service. Of course, the real training I went through took 60 weeks."

"Huh? I cannot see why. Only took us several days."

"Well, I did kind of rush on teaching you guys and we did skip all the physical training and everything. I just wanted to teach you warfare tactics," Ryan explained to him. "There is still so much to learn about being a Green Beret. There is the weapons assembly, hand-to-hand combat, there is also SERE."

"SERE? What's SERE?"

"Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape. That training involves surviving what it is like to be a prisoner of war, very harsh," Ryan explained. "Also, the reason it takes 60 weeks is because we over-train our recruits so that combat literally becomes second nature. It's true, it's like a song you know the lyrics to by heart. You sing the first line and the rest of the song just comes out of you naturally. We are taught to perform team movements, aiming, and distinguishing targets naturally."

"Wow!" Sonic was amazed, keeping his focus on the punching bag. "Sounds tough."

"It is. Being a Green Beret has a failure ratio of 80. I started with a group of 80 recruits, and only a handful of us passed. I wanted to make sure you guys passed as well."

"No, you didn't. We helped pass for you. We were determined to make it through."

"Sonic," Ryan said while taking a seat in a nearby chair, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Why did you want me to teach you guys how to be Green Berets?"

With that, Sonic stopped punching the punching bag and slowly looked over at Ryan. A grin formed on the peach muzzle of Sonic's face as he grabbed a towel hanging off of a table.

"What you did back at Robotnik's headquarters was almost impossible compared to what I'm capable of. It all made sense when we found out you were Special Forces," Sonic began to say to Ryan, his grin widening. "Robotnik had a difficult time going up against one Green Beret. Imagine the look on his face when he's up against six Green Berets."

FOUR YEARS AGO

Today was the day; it was the final test for the four recruits to become Weapons Sergeants. What was following was a weapons obstacle course.

Beta, Grimes, Nathanson, and Perreault all laid on their fronts with CheyTec sniper rifle on their shoulders. Hanging off of them on their backs are M4 rifles and they carried their M92 Beretta sidearms in their holsters. The course was designed for all different types of weapons and quickness in using them.

"Okay, you four know the drills," Maxwell said to the four. They aimed their crosshairs on the targets in front of them. Maxwell put the whistle in his mouth and blew in it!

Bang! All four sniper rifles went off with a loud bang. There was no time to tell if they hit their targets or not, they all got up and ran side-by-side to their next weapon down the hill.

The four recruits dropped down to where four M249 Squad Automatic Weapons were waiting loaded up on their bipods. They pressed the butts to their shoulders and started firing at full auto at the many targets in front of them. The targets were a series of cardboard cutouts of human-shaped bull's-eyes.

Within a few seconds, they were sure they got all of their targets. The four stood back up and ran down the hill toward the flat lands. While running there, they pulled up their M4 rifles and started shooting at the targets while running slowly. They kept on destroying each target as they proceeded.

Once all the targets were destroyed, they dropped their M4's on the dirt and ran toward a table with four green boxes. Each one opened them up to pull out an MP5 submachine gun and a Benneli Nova shotgun. Ryan, as well as the other three, slid the strap of the shotgun over their shoulders and readied their MP5 guns.

Once they had their weapons, they rushed to a makeshift complex structure with four doors. Each one ran into a separate door and they were, for the first time, separated. Ryan ran through the small one-way mini maze with his MP5 gun ready. Along the way, he came across targets popping out of door ways and dead-end halls. He shot them to pieces every time he came across them. He also heard gunfire from his other fellow recruits on the other sides of the walls.

Soon, Ryan came up to another obstacle, the locked doorway. Ryan knew this was there the shotgun had to be used. He dropped his MP5 and equipped his Benneli shotgun. He heard a shotgun round go off a second before Ryan fired his at the door knob. The door swung open as he heard two other shotgun shells go off.

Ryan ran outside where he was quickly reunited by his fellow recruits, each armed with their Benneli's. The four simultaneously chocked their shotguns back, discharging the used shell. They came across more targets, so they used their shotguns to clear them down quickly.

As soon as they came to the end, the four recruits dropped their shotguns on the dirt ground. They immediately whipped out their sidearms and fired at the last few targets. Their M92 sidearms slides locked back, indicating the magazine empty. They all grabbed their spare magazine from their holsters, slid it in, and closed the slides. All four them stopped in their tracks, like they were supposed to, and emptied their magazine at the last targets.

"Put them on safe and holster!" the instructor close by called out.

The instructor was standing on a platform far off to the side away from the crossfire. He jumped down and examined the four remaining targets.

"Not bad," the instructor said to them. He then paused, as if he was listening to something on his radio earpiece. During that time, the four recruits stood there nervously and out of breath. Finally, after a short pause, the instructor looked up at the recruits. "You all passed, outstanding work."

Beta, Grimes, Nathanson, and Perreault all let out a loud 'Hoo-ah!' for their performance. It was their final test of the MOS phase after 15 weeks together. It took a long time but it was finally worth it.

Ryan was happier than ever. He still could not believe that, 39 weeks ago, he just started this kind of training. Only 21 weeks remain until Ryan becomes a Special Forces Operator. Still, the remaining 21 weeks will not be easy.

PRESENT DAY

The next day, the sun was slowly setting over the same valley where Ryan trained the five furries. This time, a large makeshift building stood on the other end. This building was a three-story complex with at leased five rooms per story and a stairway leading all the way up to the roof. However, the Sonic Underground van parked far away at the edge of the forest, the forest leading to the complex.

Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor exited the van one by one wearing their black combat uniforms and carrying MP5's. This time, the submachine guns were actually paintball. Ryan sat on the edge of the van with a map of the valley in his hands. Paper-clipped to the map are several photographs of various random characters on Sonic Underground seen several times.

"Alright, here's the scenario," Ryan explained to them. "With the help of Cyrus, I have contacted other freedom fighter groups to participate in this exercise, armed with paintball guns. There are at leased 20 terrorists within control of a building complex about a kilometer northwest through that forest, they are armed with AK-47's and they have five hostages with them."

Ryan passed out the map of the valley to the five furries; the map has written details on it showing the complex and locations of bad guys and hostages. He then passed over the photographs of the five characters playing as hostages. They seemed familiar in the eyes of the Sonic Underground who have seen them before. Ryan continued the lecture.

"The terrorists are threatening to kill the hostages unless they get a plane out of this country to a country of their choosing within the hour," Ryan said to them. "Your mission is to trek through the forest to the complex without getting spotted, but be aware of two-man patrols in the area. Once you get to the complex building, liberate the hostages and bring them with you onto the roof for extraction. There will be your fellow freedom fighters playing hostages and other freedom fighters will be playing the roles of terrorists, and they will be trying to kill you with paintball guns. I will be grading your performance."

"Sounds like a piece of cake," Sonic said flashing his grin.

"One more thing," Ryan began to say, "There are two ways through to get to the building. There is a dirt path alone the right side of the gorge and a miniature river you can rip right through there. I'm pretty sure your fellow freedom fighters have set up surprises at both of them for you. You hit a tripwire that sends off a flare, you fail. Any ideas?"

"We can go the long path," Sonia suggested. "You explained the easy paths, but you said to us that easy isn't always right."

"True," Ryan said. "Alright, from here on out, you guys are on your own. Good luck," Ryan said to them as he climbed back into the van. Ryan got in the van's driver's seat and drove off, leaving Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor in the valley.

"Okay, guys, let's do it to it," Sonic said to them in his trademark accent and grin. The five loaded the cocked up their MP5 paintball guns. Slung on Manic's back is a paintball gun of an M-24 sniper rifle.

"Okay, single file on point man Cyrus. Go," Sonia said to them. She was designated at the team leader. Cyrus, being the team point man, led the team through the forest slowly toward their objective.

Not too far away, Ryan parked the van behind a large bush. He climbed out of the driver's seat and sat at a table with a series of television screens. One by one, he flipped each screen on, each one revealing a security camera video display of the makeshift complex with the freedom fighters as bad guys and hostages. At the same time, he activated a timer on the digital clock on the table. Eight minutes and counting.

Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor slowly crept their way through the forest as quiet as they could, like how they were in training before Manic tripped over the log. As they slowly made their way through the forest, they passed by a two-man patrol unnoticed. Ryan was right; everything they are doing is becoming second nature to them. Ryan also mentioned that the only thing he does not want to be second nature is the trigger squeeze.

As soon as they made it through the forest, they came along the boarder where they finally see the complex. The five dropped prone slowly and stared at it. Sonia pulled out her binoculars and counted the 'hostiles' around the area.

"I count 12 tangos outside, unknown number inside," Sonia whispered. "There is one dynamic entry through the door and several opened windows. Machine gun nest at the one-four corner." Sonia lowered her binoculars and looked around. She spotted a small ridge to the far right of the area. "Manic, take a sniping position up there."

"Yes, ma'am," Manic whispered back. He crawled flat toward the ridge. As soon as he got near the top while staying in the hostiles blind spots, he slipped on his Ghillie suit. Slowly, Manic crawled up to the top but low enough so he does not silhouette the sky. He gently pulled out his M-24 rifle, extended the bipod, and laid it on the grass in front of him.

Meanwhile, the remaining four flat-crawled their way to side two of the complex. Sonia figured the door would have been booby-trapped, so they made the decision to enter in through the window.

Manic stared at the complex windows and saw one room with four so-called bad guys. He soon counted other rooms with at leased one bad guy occupying it.

"Lead, this is Sierra one," Manic whispered in his radio, "I count four hostiles, side one, level two. Must be where the hostages are."

"Roger that, take out the machine gun next on my mark," Sonia whispered. She then turned to Sonic, Cyrus, and Trevor. "Cyrus, Trevor, work your way around both sides two and four, eliminating all hostiles. Sonic, with me, we go inside. Both teams deploy and flash bang and clear."

With that, Cyrus crept around to the back of the complex and circled all the way around to side four. Trevor stayed on the one-two corner. Manic kept his sights fixed on the machine gun nest. Ryan's training is now about to pay off.

Ryan stared at the security cameras, waiting for a response. He looked at the digital clock and noticed only three minute are remaining.

Cyrus and Trevor, waiting on adjacent corners are ready to strike. Sonic and Sonia are ready to lead through the window, Sonic with the flash bang grenade in his hand. Manic placed his finger on the trigger ready to fire. The team was ready.

"Three, two, one, go," Sonia whispered in her radio.

Manic squeezed the trigger on his rifle. A single paintball snapped out of the muzzle and impacted the freedom fighter character square in the forehead. He fell backwards playing dead as he rolled away from his fake placed machine gun. The other freedom fighters looked around and noticed the gunner was hit.

"Sierra one, machine gun next eliminated," Manic said in his radio.

All of a sudden, Cyrus and Trevor ran out of the two corners and gunned down all of the remaining freedom fighters outside the building. They were all splattered with paintballs in under seconds.

Sonic and Sonia made their move! Sonic tossed the flash bang grenade through the window and it exploded on impact. Sonia quickly jumped through, soon followed by Sonic. Sonic and Sonia quickly worked their way up through the complex to get the hostages.

Ryan saw the monitors and was pleased so far. They took out the biggest defensive weapon first and out-flanked the terrorists at the front of the building, all without setting of a trip wire or being detected by the patrols in the forest.

Ryan checked the digital clock and saw only two minutes remaining. He looked back at the monitors after seeing Sonic and Sonia go in through the window. It was silent for at leased a minute and nothing was happening. All of a sudden, Sonic and Sonia ran out on top of the building's roof with the five hostages in tow. Then he saw Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor run in the building to meet Sonic and Sonia on the roof.

"King Six, this is Lead, package is secured," Sonia said over the radios. Ryan grinned and spoke in the radio next to him.

"This is King Six, we are code four, all clear," Ryan said happily in the radio. He checked the time and saw it was only a minute and a half remaining. Not only did they complete the objective within the time limit, the entire operation went very smoothly.

It was evening at Cyrus' laboratory. Sonic, Sonia, Manic, Cyrus, and Trevor sat around at a table wearing their respectable clothes. Each of them was pleased with each other. Suddenly, Sonic's nose snapped when he smelled something familiar and tasty.

Sure enough, Ryan entered in the room carrying a tray full of chili dogs. It was no mistake that any Sonic the Hedgehog fan would know that Sonic loves chili dogs. Ryan himself was not exactly a fan of hot dogs. When he was young, about seven, his grandmother gave him a turkey dog and got violently ill that day. Since then, he has not touched a single hot dog. However, Ryan does love chili, without beans. He mostly prefers extremely spicy foods, anything with a lot of capsaicin. He even used to squeeze a few drops of wasabi sauce on his finger and eat it as a midnight snack. After years of eating spicy foods, he developed some kind of immunity. During a test after his Special Forces training, Ryan was asked to get pepper sprayed, but the pepper spray did not sting Ryan that much. Sure it hurt, but not too much.

Ryan laid the large tray of chili dogs on the table in front of a drooling Sonic. Immediately, Sonic grabbed one and started stuffing his face with it.

"I want to congratulate you guys," Ryan said to the group. "Thank you for asking me to instruct you. I hope you can also teach others what I just taught you for further strikes against Robotnik. The prophecy can't come true in a day, you know. So, let's continue celebrating. You five are officially Green Berets!"

The five furries cheered and hugged each other for that comment. However, the battle with Robotnik was far from over. Ryan helped Sonic and the gang to become better fighters, but he still had one problem to face, he has to get home somehow.

FOUR YEARS AGO

Fir the first time in 15 weeks, the whole Q-Course group was reunited. Ryan, as well as Beta, Grimes, and Nathanson, entered in the large classroom barracks where they met their other fellow members.

"Hey, Ryan!" a familiar voice called out. Ryan noticed Sergeant Davis in the classroom as well smiling.

"Hey, Robert!" Ryan said as he ran to Davis and gave him a high-five.

"Check it out, I'm an Engineering Sergeant," Davis said happily. Ryan took a seat next to him in the classroom.

"Awesome, man, so you can make explosives?" Ryan asked. Davis nodded with a grin. "And I am your friendly neighborhood Weapons Sergeant." Ryan then looked around and counted the recruits inside. He knew there were 14 when the Q-Course started, but now he noticed two of them are missing. "Hey, we're two light."

"Yeah, Thompson flunked out," Davis said with a slight tone of sadness. "The other guy, I don't know where he is but I'll assume he didn't make it either." Then, one of the recruits, Tanor, approached the two sitting behind them after overhearing their conversation. Tanor had a medical band on his arm, meaning he was a combat medic.

"The other one was Willard," Tanor said. "He flunked out as well, kept mixing up the IV's. But no worried, he got rolled, he gets a second chance."

"Yeah, that's what I heard about Thompson," Davis said leaning back to Tanor.

"Room, attention," one of the recruits called out. Immediately, all 12 recruits snapped up in the position of attention. They soon noticed the nameless Major enter in the room.

"As you were," the Major said. The twelve sat back down. The Major with no name walked up to the podium in the classroom to begin his final lecture. "To those who don't know, recruits Thompson and Willard have been rolled back to a later class. They will not be joining you for the rest of this regiment. Now, I want to proudly state that recruits Adams, Rush, and Samsung are your new 18-Echos, your Communications Sergeants. Nichols and Tanor are your 18-Deltas, Medical Sergeants. Davis, Matthews, and Roselyn have graduated to become 18-Charlies, the Engineering Sergeants. And finally, Beta, Grimes, Nathanson, and Perreault are your team Weapons Sergeants. Good job everybody. Hoo-ah!"

"Hoo-ah!" the class shouted.

"Now, in the next 14 weeks in the collective phase," the Major continued. "There, you will use your MOS training to become an asset to your team and learn teamwork tactics. Gentlemen, please step in!"

Suddenly, the door opened, and walking in are five Special Forces recruits. There was one major difference between these recruits and the ones Ryan is part of. They are officers! One of them is a young Second Lieutenant flashing off his gold bar on his insignia. Two are First Lieutenants flashing a silver bar on their insignias, and the other two are Warrant Officers, flashing a thin silver bar with a single small black square in dead center on their insignia.

"Let me introduce you to Lieutenants Falcon, Wire, and Carpenter," the Major said. "With them are Warrant Officers Brick and Loren. These five just passed their 18-Alpha and 180-Alpha training courses and will be assisting you for the duration of your training. You will follow their leads in the upcoming collective phase. As officers, these men must make the right decisions in hostile environments. However, as enlisted men, you must be able to develop a trust in your officers that, when they give you an order, you do it better than how they said down to the letter. As enlisted men, your officers must trust you to get the job done right, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," the entire class announced at the same time.

"Outstanding. Get some rest. Come Monday, the collective phase will begin," the Major announced. He the announced one last word. "Dismissed."

TO BE CONTINUED…