Rifle in hand

Through a mere minute, the hall before Brake was unrecognisable. The room had formed walls very close to him and a ceiling had formed above him. It felt like a tiny cell. And a rough shape of a closed door lay ahead of him. The walls' neon lines had dimmed, revealing the room as a dingy interior. The darkness was only combated by the small light within his helmet. The walls were all slick, giving an uncanny resemblance to an interior without any debris or junk, or even furniture.

The static in his earpiece screeched with a robotic cadence "The simulation will begin in-" it paused "-30 seconds." This was it. Brake could feel his blood pumping from his recent bout of exercise. His heart beat in his chest at a heightened rate. With every beat, it pounded closer to ripping out of his chest.

Brake could only rely on his training taking autopilot, he didn't stand a chance if he even began to think of a plan. Making a plan would only bog him down, but the risks of an officer doing everything on the fly would only spell doom. Either way, his chances would be very slim. Brake shook his head and knocked the visor, trying to shove these thoughts from his head physically.

"Twenty seconds" Crackled his ears once more. The pressure was building once more, counting the seconds wasn't good for his nerves.

'If I ever find whoever put a timer before this damned exam' he frustratingly said to himself biting his lip.

"10 seconds" It chirped in again. Only frustrated Brake more. He widened his eyes, then slowly closed them. The best way to get his training to kick in is for the best chemical in a clone's body, Adrenaline. He certainly felt the blood forcing itself through his veins, all he needed was the final spark to force all those years of training to switch on.

"Five-" It began counting down. All this last-minute waiting kept him on his toes alright, but now it was the time when it all matters. Brake let the counting clear from his mind as a forced silence emptied his mind. He took a deep breath in and held it. Then let it all flush from him.

"Begin" The last call from the bothersome voice shrieked. He opened his eyes, seeing a faint glimpse of the cell he was in.

The room was engulfed in a blinding yet beautiful blue light not a second later. It shimmered on every surface as it flew around the room. It wasn't long before it settled. A second dimmer light flashed again. A trooper stood right in front of him. It was a hologram.

Brake was startled for a second as he recognised the trooper's armour, it had distinct markings all over it. Exactly like the armour they wore on Geonosis. The hologram contorted and buffered for a few seconds before he realised the ranking insignia. It was a Captain.

"Lieutenant, your briefing for the mission is as follows." The captain suddenly animated as his arms and head moved.

"You have captured a small building, your objective is to command your platoon accordingly and capture a warehouse on the opposite side of the environment. Do not lose more than 80% of your unit or it will be considered an immediate failure. Do you understand?" It summarised.

Brake was at a loss for words. He barely had enough information and was flabbergasted by the instant information dump. "What is the terrain like, Captain?" He asked, trying to stall, attempting to think of a better question.

"Do you understand?" The hologram repeated again.

Brake had only realised, the lack of information was purposeful. No wonder he was able to lose 80% of his forces. He was being supplied with no intel, had no eyes on the battlefield and was on the offence. Dejectedly Brake gave out a sigh and a hushed "Yes, sir…"

The hologram zipped away within an instant. The room was once again engulfed in darkness.

An explosive and incredible flash destroyed Brakes corneas. Reactively he threw up his arm over his visor and subsequently his eyes. He only began to notice his ears were not responding either, a deafening noise had burst his eardrums. A long ringing note pierced his head.

The ringing began to subside gradually as his hearing returned. His corneas seemed to recover slightly as he lowered his arm from his visor. Revealing the room before him was now bright and exuberant with life. Mystical shades of blue filled the room. Holograms of all sizes had formed before his eyes and an ambiance of radio chatter muttered all around him.

Before him stood a group of clones in full armour, laden with various weapons. From a rough glance, Brake could tell it was a squad in front of him. They stood in different positions like marionettes, from standing to almost prone and every degree inbetween. They were all focusing on the door ahead of Brake. Most of them held their weapons up and aimed down sights at this door.

The odd thing however, was the fact that all of these clones were not moving. In the sense that you move ever so slightly when you breathe. This uncanny feeling weighed on Brakes nerves, almost scaring him. Perhaps they would begin moving once he gave the step? Only experimentation would figure this mystery out. He held his rifle firm and took a step.

The frozen figures craned to life, in a theatrical and almost horrifying way. They started to look almost alive. They began to animate further as they all began to breathe, they started in sync with one another which created a deathly groaning noise before they all began to break out of sync.

"Sir! The droids have taken the streets outside!" Wailed from Brake's right.

"Blast it all!" He jumped and exclaimed in surprise, he realised immediately who was screaming. It was another hologram standing right next to him. But his armour was marked differently than the other troopers at the door. It was a Clone Sergeant.

Brake held his chest as he regained his composure, he turned to face the assailant. "What are your orders, Sir?" The sergeant blasted again. Brake began to remember that this was an exam, the most important one in his life.

He slowly crawled into his position as the officer. "Uh, What's the situation?" Brake spat out "Erm, Sergeant '' he quickly added to attempt to regain some sort of seniority.

"Droids have taken control of the streets outside! We have the element of surprise!" The ghostly Sergeant promptly said.

Brake looked down in a trance trying to skim over his briefing. He would need to come up with the plan solely, or should he just go with the flow? "Do we have a map of the outside?" He asked, Distracting himself from the previous conundrum.

"No, Sir" the sergeant barked back, his simulated voice breaking immersion ever so slightly.

"What about the positions of the droids outside?" Brake almost begged.

"No, Sir" the Sergeant chanted.

Brake had basically no intel except from knowing the enemy was outside those doors. He had enough common sense to realise a lack of knowledge on the battlefield was catastrophic for any officer.

He looked at the men at the door. This wasn't enough to push out of a bottleneck into the unknown. How could he keep 80% of a squad alive? Was the rest of his men waiting outside? The questions kept popping up and multiplying in Brake's head.

"Where's the rest of the platoon?" Brake sheepishly asked fearing the answer. "Bravo squad, Charlie squad and Echo squad are right there, Sir." The hologram robotically thrusted his arm to point behind Brake. Spinning on the spot he faced another blinding light.

There was a huge mass of men in even more varied positions right behind him. With the three remaining Sergeants crouched awaiting their orders. Perhaps with this many men he could make it at least a few feet outside. But which squad did Brake belong to? A thought snapped in his head. Generally the Lieutenant would go with the most senior experienced sergeant that acted as the parental figure of the platoon. But how can you tell with holograms?

The Sergeant that led the first squad seemed like a good pick since he was the first to deliver any information. At this point Brake was realising he was wasting time here. The droids outside could be planning, patrolling or even setting an ambush.

"Alright Platoon! Get ready to push out into the street. Sergeants, I need a quick briefing" he forced out. The adrenaline was beginning to flow more steadily. His training was trying to break through. First things first was to get the sergeants in the loop. The mass of blue gave a mix of 'Yes Sirs' or nods and rushed across the room and made multiple firing lines toward the door. The four sergeants surrounded Brake ready for his next step.

"What are your names?" he asked them. Trying to alleviate the communication breakdown every time he referred to them as sergeants. All four of them then started to spew a mix of CT numbers. It would take far too long to remember their numbers or even say them in the heat of battle.

Brake shook his head and in the heat of pressure of time he blurted "Okay! Enough!'' The sergeants went silent. "You lead the Alpha Squad? Right?" he asked the one standing.

"Yes Sir" the hologram replied.

"Alright, you're Alpha!" he pointed at the first. "Bravo, Charlie, Echo!" he explained annoyingly, pointing at the remaining three. Even the simulated holograms looked confused for a few seconds and looked at one another before crying out yet another 'Yes Sir'

All this 'Yes Sir' 'No Sir' talking was already getting to Brake. Even though it was a sign to respect his rank, the formality annoyed and angered him. At least it helped with making him confident.

"Get to your squads and check your radios" he ordered them. Brake was slowly getting into the commanding groove, even if it was just telling them mundane tasks. As the Sergeants rushed to the heads of their respective formations Brake began to hype himself up, he got through the small briefing phase and it went well so far. He shook his head and shook himself.

The next order he had to give was going to be much more tense and stressful. They had to rush out into combat. Then if he was under fire he would need to improvise further if he didn't have a plan. This blasted decision was hitting him with one of his major weaknesses, indecision.

He gave a sharp exhale. Clicking on his radio and hearing the respective sergeants check their intercom radios. Brake began to give orders. "Alright! When this door opens! I want Bravo squad to rush and secure the left flank, Charlie squad rush right and secure the right flank! Echo squad, secure the vanguard! Alpha squad! You're with me! We'll Cover the rear!"

He was in a sudden burst of command, he had to be. His indecision was suppressed by his fear of what was outside the door. They were about to rush into a hellish landscape that he knew nothing about. He couldn't allow them to retreat back inside, they'd be pinned down and would never complete the mission. The only way through this was to get out that door and to push as hard and as far as possible.

All of the men felt much more 'soldier-like' for a moment as some of them gave some battle cries or did some form of rallying cry. The respective Sergeants called out in understanding.

"Ready men! Push as hard as you can until you find solid cover!" Brake declared mightily. He was now in line with Alpha squad. He crouched down with every muscle in his body tight and prepared. His rifle was entrenched into his shoulder. All of the troopers tightened like springs ready to unleash through the door. They were all ready for the first big push. Brake took one final breath and gave the command.

"Breach the door!"