“As political activism in Pithoria continues to escalate, the Pithorian Armed Forces are trying everything they can to keep violence at bay. Meanwhile, NATO peacekeeping forces continue to decommission equipment and were noticeably absent when three large crates of military-grade weapons and ammunition were seized from a group of activists last week. In other news, Colonel Manalakos is set to deliver a joint press conference with Zelorian Colonel Sharov tomorrow afternoon, which will likely be delivering the findings of the investigation into the courthouse bombing last month-”

Black slammed his finger on the power button of the radio. “Fucking state-run media, it drives me crazy,” He grumbled.

“Yeah, they stick us on babysitting duty instead of where all the action is, and then they complain about how we don’t do anything,” Hughes added.

“Lighten up lads,” Shaw told them. “It could be worse. They could’ve stuck us on checkpoint duty.”

Black scoffed. “I guess so, but sometimes I’d rather be doing that than hopelessly trying to teach PAF recruits how to be competent soldiers,” He said.

“Alright gentleman, my name is Lieutenant Shaw and today we will be overseeing your training,” Shaw began.

“A NATO group? Really?” Black heard one recruit mutter to another. He would’ve said something to them, but he decided that he didn’t want to scrub the barracks floor again.

“We’re going to start by having Sergeant Black here, shoot at these targets we have set up.” He gestured to the 15 targets evenly spaced out about 100 meters away. “So Sergeant, if you’d be so kind.”

Black raised his rifle, his left eye shut and his right eye staring down the iron sights of his rifle. He carefully squeezed out a shot on each target.

“Now as you’ll notice, he’s taking his time to line up each target and shoot, in other words, he’s opting for precision over speed,” Shaw pointed out as Black shot at the targets. “This is what you should always strive for,” He finished as Black shot the last target. He was about to continue when a Mi-8 flew overhead.

“What the hell is the ZAF doing here?” Hughes grumbled.

“We should probably report that in,” Shaw said, reaching for his radio. “Bishop, this is Echo, message, over,” He said.

“Go ahead Echo, over,” Bishop responded.

“A Zelorian helicopter just flew overhead, heading south-west. How copy, over?”

There was a brief moment of pause before Bishop replied. “They’re fine Echo, let them pass. The PAF is giving them clearance, over.”

“Of course they are,” Black grumbled. “PAF’ll do anything to kiss their arse.”

Shaw turned his attention back to the recruits. “Now, let’s carry on then, shall we? Next, we’re going to talk about movement on the battlefield, and how one decision could mean life or death. The first thing you’ve got to know when you’re talking about this is-” He was cut off by a thundering boom in the distance.

“What the fuck was that?” Hughes asked.

Shaw was already reaching for his radio. “Bishop this is Echo, we just heard an explosion not far away. Do we know what it is? Over,” He asked.

“Echo, Bishop, wait one, over,” Bishop replied. They waited for about 30 seconds before Bishop replied. “The PAF is saying that ZAF chopper you saw just went down. We need you to investigate, how copy? Over.”

“Solid copy sir, but what about the recruits?” Shaw asked.

“I dunno lieutenant take ‘em with you, make it a lesson or something, according to the PAF, the chopper went down at grid reference 043-783, get moving, out.”

Shaw once again turned to the recruits. “Alright, change of plans. We’re going to investigate a Zelorian chopper that went down, and you’re coming with us. Now form up on me, we’re moving out.” He turned toward the black tower of smoke in the distance and started walking.

Shaw raised his fist, signaling for the group to stop. He pointed to an outcrop of rocks on the hill to their left. “Hughes, Kelly, get up there and wait for my signal.” The two men nodded and started moving into position. Shaw looked back at the rest of the group. “We’ll wait for them to get into position, then we’ll move in,” He told them. “Bishop this is Echo, we’re almost at the crash site, how copy? Over.”

“Roger that Echo, remember the ROE, do not fire unless fired upon. We don’t wanna piss these guys off further. Report in once the site is secure, Bishop out.”

“We’re all set, sir,” Sergeant Hughes said over the radio.

“How does it look?” Shaw asked.

“We’ve got eyes on rebels at the crash site, about two fire teams. Paramilitaries by the looks of it.” He told him.

“Alright, keep us covered, we’re gonna try and talk them down.” He stood up and moved up over the hill, Black and the recruits followed.

They came up over the hill, moving slowly and trying to stay in plain sight. The rebels spotted them and fixed their guns on them. Shaw held his rifle out, trying to make it clear that they were friendly, Black did the same, but the recruits kept their guns ready. Black could see the rebels talking to each other, and they slowly started lowering their guns. But then, one of the rebels point at the recruits, and they all raised their guns again, and after a few seconds, they opened fire.

Black hit the dirt, aiming down the barrel of his rifle and lining up a shot on one of the rebels. He squeezed out one clean shot on their head, and they dropped to the ground. Hughes and Kelly opened fire on the rebels from the rocks, taking out about half of them. Black took a second one down with another well-placed shot, and Shaw took out the other two.

Black stood up. “So how was that action for you?” He asked the cadets. But when he turned around, he saw them all lying on the ground dead. “Ah shit.”

Shaw grumbled. “The PAF isn’t gonna like this,” He said. “Bishop it’s Echo, the crash site is secure. There were a couple of rebels that opened fire on us, but we took them. Although… we lost the cadets, over.”

Black could hear Bishop sigh. “Alright, well, for now, RTB. A PAF squad is on its way to hold the crash site, out.”

“Why do I get the feeling we just made things worse?” Black asked.