Basic combat, my ass! This was nuts! I chanced peeking over my cover and immediately dropped back down as a hail of gunfire flew overhead. When Nihlus said I was just going to be focusing on basic combat, I assumed it meant he was going to stick me in one of the other teams that were training. But no, he just gave me a basic run down of how to properly hold and fire my weapons, what to look out for, and a warning to keep my head down... and then he stuck me in the training grounds, and set the training program to the one used to test marines for qualifying for the N7 program.

"How's it going?" Nihlus asked, his voice coming over my radio.

I growled in reply, "How do you think it's going?! This is the eighteenth time I've had to do this because I keep getting killed within minutes!"

"Well, it's been about nine minutes so far on this run and you're still alive..."

I had to fight the urge to yell back at him as I started moving along the wall before rushing to another piece of cover. "You said I'd be doing basic combat!"

"This is basic compared to what you're going to be doing," he said before advising, "Just think of it like a game, only if you fail, you actually die."

I was gonna kill him... "The dying part kinda blows the whole game concept outta the water!"

"You're doing fine," Nihlus said, "Oh, watch your left flank..."

I spun just in time to see the drone fire a bolt at me, taking out my shields and 'killing' me in the simulation. I growled angrily and stood up. This was going nowhere, and I'm sure everyone must have known it, but instead of hearing anything on the radio, all I heard was the intercom saying that the simulation was resetting and I had five minutes to prepare and get back to the starting point... a starting point that was thirty meters away at most.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

That night I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow, and then what felt like two seconds after that, I was being woken up so that I could start my full day of training while Nihlus talked with Mordin and Hackett. Once I'd gotten back to the training ground I took about ten minutes to myself to think. This was a new day, I felt more alert and energetic, I just had to focus on what I was doing. Act like it's a game... if it's a game it's less stressful, I'll be able to maintain focus better. I sighed and stood up, putting my helmet on and making my way to starting point.

One hour later and I was on my third try. I'd managed to do a lot better than yesterday, but I still hadn't even been able to reach the halfway point. At the moment I was locked in a building, having sealed one door behind me and trying to hack the other before the one I'd sealed was hacked. All this code looked the same though! It was becoming a pain in the ass, and when I finally did figure it out, I still wasn't done. The second part of it was where my Omni-tool was held up to the door and those pieces started spinning around. That part was more like a game, having to flex my fingers at the right moment in order to lock the right piece into place. It was actually more difficult at the start when all the pieces were moving, but once I'd gotten started I was able to get through it with only failing once.

The door slid open and I bolted through, heading for the closest piece of cover I could find, a fake shuttle crash sight, and kept to the edge of it, peeking over quickly to survey the area. Alright, there were patrolling droids who looked to be on alert, waiting for me. Now how was I gonna take them out? They were too spread out to use a grenade, and I couldn't spot any cover that would give me only one side to worry about... It looked like the only way to continue was to get rid of them. I grumbled silently and scanned the area. I'd just have to try and do this so that I only needed to deal with a few at a time as opposed to all of them. I ducked back into cover and moved to the other side of the shuttle, there was a shuttle door stuck in the ground a bit further up, and I quickly dived for its cover, popping back up and almost falling forward again.

From there I had a better view of the side and spotted a small building with open screens that would provide a good vantage point. I'd just have to deal with the droids as they came in turn, the only problem was getting over there. The only way I could see to get close would have be going nearly all the way to the droids, skirting along the wall of the raised walkway they were on, and then turning my back to them as I dashed for the bits of cover closer to the building.

It took me nearly twenty minutes, but I managed to make my way to the wall without being detected. Now I just had to stick close to it and hope none of the droids decided to look over the edge as I was going. That part was easy. The next part had me worried. Once I'd reached the other end I realized that the closest piece of cover was farther than I'd originally thought. Alright, I got this far, I could figure something out... a distraction! What could I use as a distraction. I looked around and saw nothing nearby, but looking back down the wall I saw my salvation. There were several crates stacked on each other. If I could knock those down and draw the attention of all the droids toward that end, I'd be free and clear on this end. Alright, I could do this.

I felt the tingle in my arm as I focused on using my biotics. I had to aim this just right so that it hit the crates but wasn't visible until it did, otherwise they'd know which direction it had come from. Another second passed and I extended my arm, launching the biotic push and watching as it sailed right to the crates. Yes! Wait a couple seconds now for them to all turn their focus that way... What's that beeping? I looked up and saw a couple of the droids leaning over the railing and looking at me.

"Ah, shit..." I muttered as I started running. I decided I might as well pull out all the stops now, so I activated the main feature of my new Omni-tool. The Omni-shield flared up just in time to deflect some fire that was being directed at me. I kept it between myself and the droids that had by now all seen me, as I ran to the building. I got to it and dove inside. Ha! What luck! There was a ladder... I could get to higher ground! I deactivated the shield and practically flew up the ladder coming out to the top of the building to find plenty of cover and a walkway that would take me over to the other side of the wall that the droids were guarding. I ran across, not too worried about making noise. So long as I was able to get away, I was fine with that.

I reached the other side and slid down the ladder there, ecstatic to find no enemies coming through the door they'd been guarding, to get me. Now I could... what's that?An alarm was suddenly going off and then Nihlus' voice came over my comm.

"Dazac! Get back to the starting point now! You've got one minute!" Nihlus said.

"What?" I asked, "Why? What's going on?"

"Just get moving Dazac! Before you're locked in!" Nihlus shouted.

Locked in? That didn't sound good...

I ran for the door the droids had been guarding and opened it, then bolted through, ignoring the droids as they turned and started firing at me until my shields went down. I heard Nihlus yell at me to hurry as I neared the door. I was almost there, but with my luck, or lack thereof, I didn't make it. The door shut just before I got to it and I slammed into it, pounding my fists on it when I found it sealed.

"Nihlus, what's going on?" I asked, worried.

"Did you make it out?" he asked.

"No!"

I heard him say something I didn't understand, probably cursing.

"The system is malfunctioning," Nihlus explained, "It just shut down the qualifying simulation and has entered a high level N7 combat simulation."

Ok, that didn't make much sense. The droids would just be harder to deal with. Right? Tentatively I asked, "What does that mean?"

Nihlus sighed, "It means, you're locked in until the simulation is finished."

"Dammit," I muttered, "So don't I just let them take down my shields and get out?"

"It's not that simple, Dazac," Nihlus explained, "This simulation uses live ammunition."

…..

"It uses WHAT?"

A voice from a VI suddenly blared through the arena I had been locked in. "Attention: N7 simulation 43-C beginning. Cutting off external communications. Good luck."

Cutting off communications... "Nihlus?" I asked, frantically, "Nihlus! Hello?! Nihlus?!"

I turned and looked to see a large number of droids appearing from the doors I'd just run through. This was not going to be pleasant...

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"I'm gonna kill you, Nihlus!" I stated, glaring at him from where I was slumped in a chair, trying to ignore the stinging sensation from the various places I'd had to apply medi-gel to. The crazy bastard had activated that simulation on purpose!

"You should be proud of yourself," Nihlus said, unphased by my statement, "You managed to complete one of the most difficult simulations Arcturus offers."

"In twenty-two hours!" I screamed, "And I only now just woke up! I was out cold for two days, you demented bastard!"

"I hope this isn't a sign of things to come," Hackett said rather bemusedly, referring to the damage that had been caused to the course and the nearly one hundred droids I'd had to destroy to survive the god forsaken death trap. "Cleaning up after Shepard is costly enough."

I looked up at the mention of Shepard and Hackett turned to me, "Shepard was able to get to T'Soni, the Normandy is on its way here as we speak."

I sighed and slumped forward, letting my forehead hit the table. At least this would be over soon.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up, grab a bite to eat, and then get some sleep," Nihlus said, "We can continue your training in ten hours."

I looked at him in disbelief, "You want me to train more after putting me through that?!"

"Assuming the Reapers are going to be as bad as you say," Hackett said seriously, "One thousand hours of combat like that isn't going to be enough training."

I stared at him before weakly nodding and forcing myself to my feet. I suddenly felt the exhaustion hit me and decided to forgo eating and just grab a fast shower and go to bed.