The 4 cadets carefully moved deeper into the 2nd floor, the air filters in their Exo-suits steadily filtering out the smoke from the fire. They need to hurry up and find the last "hostage" and the last "terrorist".
They stopped in front of a wall. The door to the right is open, but it's barricaded by a table and some other debris. Ariel carefully raised her AUG A3 SF rifle into the door frame and looked into the feed from the 3x scope's built in smart optical system.
In front of them is the last "hostage", held at gunpoint by the last "terrorist". They have essentially barred themselves in a room. Both are coughing from the smoke, yet remaining in character.
The other 3 saw the feed and their hearts sank: they cannot enter the room without first breaking the barricade, but the moment they step in to push the barricade, they need to stay in the fatal funnel, meaning they will be exposed to shots from the "terrorist". The room is also too small to use wall breaching charges safely, they cannot force their way in.
Hence, Ariel tried to talk their way out.
"Hey friend!" she yelled. "There is no way out of here! Let's make it easier for all of us, come out with your hands in the air, no one needs to get hurt here! Please?"
The "terrorist" scoffed, saying that it's none of his business. The "hostage" cried for help loudly.
"C'mon, pretty please?" said Ariel. Sean joined in the "negotiating" from behind Ariel. "How about this?" he said. "I come to the front door, no guns, I need to see if the hostage is safe!"
The "terrorist" agreed. Sean laid down his SCAR-H and pulled his FN 5-7 from his holster, walking over to the front door, barricaded by the table and the debris, hands raised. He deliberately maintained some distance from himself and the wall and the door.
That gave Louis an idea. He started to crawl towards the door as well, just out of sight since he is crawling lower than the debris of the wall. Sean noticed him. He, Carl and Ariel instantly understood what Louis was trying to do. He is trying to crawl to the other side of the door and the wall to see if there is another way in.
With that, Sean walked slower to match Louis' pace.
Suddenly, Louis knocked against a fallen shelf, sending a loud rattle as his Exo-suit's armoured plates hit the metal surface.
"Owie, owie owie!" groaned Sean as he quickly also knocked himself against another debris to cover up the noise caused by Louis.
"KEEP YOUR HANDS UP!" yelled the "terrorist"
"Yeah, easy, easy," grinned Sean, keeping his hands up.
"Hey buddy hear me out," said Sean. "You are making the opening so damn small, how are we supposed to conduct a rescue operation?"
"That's a problem for you!" retorted the "terrorist".
"Cut the nonsense cadet, if you got the balls and skills come and get me, otherwise give up!"
"Help!" cried the "hostage".
"Shut up!" yelled the "terrorist".
Meanwhile Louis had reached the right side of the wall. He looked and felt around, realising it is concrete. He cursed, then he looked at the open window behind Carl back on the left side.
He crawled back to the front of the door, shielding his body with the table debris. The obstacle that blocked their entry also acts as the perfect concealment for them to pass information.
Louis used hand signals to signal to Sean in front of him and to Ariel and Carl on his left his discovery. He then made another set of signals, signalling that he is going to try something else: he is going to exit the window on the left and then try to see if he can abseil down and find a way to shoot.
Sean and Ariel looked at each other apprehensively, this is a dangerous technique. They are 3 floors above ground, and each individual floor of this building is high. Any mishap means injuries, even if protected by armour as advanced as an Exo-suit.
Carl did not care too much; he approved Louis' idea immediately. Seeing Louis' eager expression, Sean and Ariel reluctantly signalled Louis to proceed. Sean kept trash-talking with the "terrorist" to stall, even offering ridiculous ideas like "he will dress up as a cute Chinese dragon femboy".
"I know you are on the handsome boy side," retorted the "terrorist", "but no, and I ain't into that."
Soon Louis is walking across the rooftop, keeping his footsteps light. To his joy, there is indeed an open window from which he can access the room from the outside.
Louis launched ascension cables from his Exo-suit, connecting them to a water tank's guardrails, gave it a tug, then started abseiling down.
Little did he realise that the guardrails had 2 missing screws, and sure enough, once it had to withstand his whole weight plus that of his equipment, it snapped off.
Very soon, a flash flew past the eyes of the "terrorist" and the "hostage" as the "terrorist" is in the middle of some evil villain speech, followed by a loud "clang!" The "terrorist" stopped his monologue, looking at the open window, frowning.
Louis had smashed against the steel window grill of the 2nd floor window as he caught himself before he smashed into the ground, hanging on for dear life, one hand on the window edge.
Meanwhile, the other cadets on the ground have "evacuated" the other "hostages", and are now standing by below. Clara looked up and saw Louis hanging by the window edge.
Hey Jarhead!" yelled Clara, using a slang word for US Marines. "What do you think you are doing, Tome Cruise and his stunts?"
The 8 cadets on the ground looked over quizzically.
Vera looked up at Louis, wondering too what he is up to.
Then a detail made her frown.
"Hold up, where is his ascension cable?" she asked.
Clara froze, the rest also realised what is going on. They immediately ran over.
"Louis!" yelled Eddie, leading the charge over.
"HANG ON!" yelled Clara. "We are coming!"
The commotion below raised the attention of the "terrorist" and the "hostage", they broke character, rushing to the window, looking down.
"OH SH*T!" yelled the "hostage". "A cadet had fallen off!"
Seeing the "hostage" and "terrorist" breaking character and running to the window, along with the noise and chaos below, Sean, Ariel and Carl also ran to their window.
"Louis! Hold on tight, don't let go!" yelled Ariel, visibly worried.
"No sh*t!" groaned Louis, finger barely hanging onto the window edge.
Nanami had also opened the window next to where she was "killed" and saw Louis hanging on to the edge.
"All stations attention, pause the exercise, number 42 is in danger, all medical and emergency personnel standby," she radioed. She then peeked out of the window, yelling at Louis to remain calm and that help is on the way.
"Net, net!" yelled Clara, and the 8 cadets below quickly formed a human net with their arms, prepared to catch Louis should he slip and fall.
Louis groaned, letting go of one hand to reach the encased piping on the walls, trying to climb back to the 3rd floor, momentarily slipping.
"Louis, just stay there, don't risk it!" yelled Sean, panicked.
The "terrorist" found a bamboo pole among the debris in the room, dangling it down. "Here, grab on to this, I will pull you up!"
"The exercise isn't over!" roared Louis. "Get back inside!"
Nanami sighed, exasperated. "That stubborn cutie~"
After a dangerous and slow climb, Louis is now standing on top of an air conditioner condenser unit, hands on the window edge of the 3rd floor window.
"He's back up!" announced the "terrorist".
"Resume," panted Louis.
"Huh?" asked the "hostage".
"YOU HEARD ME! THIS EXERCISE AIN'T OVER, GET THE F*** BACK!" roared Louis.
Impressed and shocked by his determination, the "hostage" ordered the "terrorist" to get back in character, and they returned to the door, setting up themselves as per before Louis' fall. Sean also waved at Ariel and Carl to return to where they were, Sean at the front door "negotiating", Ariel and Carl stacking up and preparing to breach.
"Cadet, you were standing a bit further back!" said the "hostage", pointing to Sean.
"No, I was here," replied Sean with a frown. "Miss, I do theatre, I am good at remembering blocking."
"We good!" yelled Sean.
"Start!" yelled Louis.
"Help!" cried the "hostage" as the "terrorist" warned Sean to not come forward, pistol raised, all 3 of them pretending that Louis is not at the window, after all, they are returning back to the moment before Louis fell.
Louis grabbed his Glock 19 pistol from his holster, bracing himself, then he lunged up, quickly training his pistol at the "terrorist".
"BANG!!"
(2 days later)
Sean breathed out, seeing his breath forming a mist. He is dressed in the arid camouflage uniform, then wearing a white outer coat to blend in with the environment of the snow-covered mountains of the Alps. Instead of wearing a high-cut ballistic helmet as he had been wearing for the majority of the course when not in space or an Exo-suit, he is now wearing a knit cap with a pair of goggles, and a face mask to shield his face from the cold wind.
He yawned, grabbing his equipment and stepping out of the shelter he had pitched with Louis, Albert, and Eddie. It is constructed by tying thick loose branches around trees, forming a trapezium of sorts. They then dug away the snow and soil underneath, forming a crater, which they will sleep in.
Afterward, they then covered it up using cloths coloured in arid camouflage, pairing them with white and tan cloths. This allows the shelter to be camouflaged into the environment, as well as to mask it somewhat from heat imagery to reduce the chances of detection.
"You were one stubborn moron back there at the house," joked Eddie as he playfully poked Louis.
"You did persevere and took out that dude, so hat's off to you," commended Albert.
"Thanks guys…" said Louis shyly. He asked what would they have done if he failed.
"Well, we'd groan, then try again," replied Alberts simply.
"And if you fell off, again, we would catch you," assured Eddie.
The cadets had set up a camp on the foot of the Alps. ATC should be ending soon. The good news for them is that they do not have to evade capture, allowing them to trek more comfortably.
That comfort is relative though, as they still have to reach certain points under time constraints, where they will be then drilled in other courses and ranked.
"Morning," Sean greeted his fellow tent-mates, taking a cup of instant noodles cooked by Albert and wolfing it down, hot soup is 100% better in such an environment than eating MREs.
Once the cadets had their breakfast, they dismantled the camp and packed their gear, and headed upwards with skis, allowing them to move quickly in the snow and glacier-filled environment.
Ariel pointed northwards.
"So close to home yet so far!" she mused.
"You are from Bavaria?" asked Carl.
Ariel laughed. 'That's classified, Carl! We can't find out things about each other aside from names!"
She pointed to the German flag on her uniform and his uniform, stuck on by Velcro. "Nationality is already a giveaway; Germany is in the north from here after all, ain't that right, Mr Viking?"
"Which reminds me," said Carl, turning to Sean. "How come you don't have a country patch? What are you, stateless?"
Before he said a word, Louis jumped to his defence.
"Can't he be a citizen of the world? Director Kovac renounced his Yugoslavian citizenship and is now stateless, does that makes them less of a person?" he retorted.
The cadets climbed upwards, battling the harsh cold and the snow. Sean wiped the snow off his goggles as a wind blew them onto his face. After a long, arduous climb, the cadets made it to the midpoint of the mountain, all of them making it within the stipulated time, surprising the instructors.
"Take off your gear!" ordered Nanami. "And gather here!"
The cadets complied, falling in. Sean looked at the objects in front of them: weighted vests filled with sand to simulate the weight of their gear, as well as rubber training props to stand in for their guns.
Nanami then pointed to a frozen pond, a portion of the ice had been broken, revealing the icy water underneath.
"Operating in cold environments means that there is a high chance we will step on ice and it break under our weight. Falling into icy water in such an environment is no joke. No one can get out of such a situation undamaged."
"Thus, you all need to learn how to save yourselves, and help each other out should such a situation happen."
Herbert then gave the order for push-ups, and the cadets got down, doing push-ups, their limbs barely shielded from the cold with gloves and boots. For once they are thankful of PT, as it helps them to heat up their bodies to shield themselves in this cold.
"Numbers 4, 9, 31, 42, step out!" yelled Herbert. Erika, Sean, Ariel and Louis stopped their push-ups, wearing the weighted vests and rubber guns. They then put on skis and fastened the ski poles to their arms with Velcro.
They headed over to the ice, standing in front of the pit.
"Who will do the honours?" asked Erika.
The 4 cadets looked at each other, not wanting to be the first to "enjoy" it.
"HURRY UP!" roared the instructor acting as the safety officer.
"OK! I will take the lead!" volunteered Sean. The instructor hooked a rope onto Sean that is tied to a light armoured snowcat, utility vehicles with caterpillar tracks designed for snow operations, preventing him from sinking to the bottom as a safety precaution.
"What size clothes you wearing, 9?" asked the instructor coldly.
"185/XL," replied Sean.
Sean then jumped into the water; the cold instantly caused his body to freeze. First, it was feelings of pain from the sting of the cold water, then his body went numb from the cold, which is an extremely dangerous thing as it will hinder his efforts to self-rescue.
"Son…of…a…b…b*tch…" he shivered, quivering in the cold. He grabbed a ski pole, and tried to hoist himself up, but his hand slipped, and he immediately sunk into the pond, water swallowing him.
"SEAN!"