Everyone taking part in the assessment was housed in the same dormitory building as Adrian.
The shrill call to assemble jolted everyone awake.
"What's going on?"
"No idea. I heard them calling for an emergency formation outside."
Some of the candidates had not yet fully processed what was happening, but they still got dressed and prepared to head out and see for themselves.
"Garrett, get your fatigues on and move."
Adrian jumped out of bed, went to Garrett's side, and woke him.
"What's going on?"
Garrett looked just as confused.
"Remember what the sergeant said? The moment we received our equipment, the assessment began."
Adrian did not waste another second. Already dressed in his camouflage fatigues, he slung on his rucksack and rushed out the door.
Garrett came to his senses and threw on his fatigues as quickly as he could before following him.
Two instructors were already waiting in the open area outside the dormitory.
One held a stopwatch, while the other stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
"I wonder what the fastest record for this intake will be."
The instructor who spoke was tall and wore a baseball cap.
"I'd say at least three minutes."
The other instructor glanced at the stopwatch in his hand, then at the dormitory, whose windows were already blazing with light.
"Want to make a bet? I'm betting no one in this batch gets out here within three minutes."
The tall instructor spoke again.
"Who's betting with you? The guy who made it in three minutes last time is a battalion commander now."
The instructor with the stopwatch adjusted the tactical helmet on his head. A strange device was mounted to his face mask, forcing him to readjust the helmet every so often.
"Instructor, do we form up here?"
While the two instructors were still focused on the dormitory windows, a voice interrupted their thoughts.
"Yes. That's right."
The instructor holding the stopwatch answered reflexively.
"Wait—what? That fast?"
He looked down at his stopwatch.
"A minute and a half? Kid, did you sleep in your clothes?" the instructor shouted.
"No. I just make a habit of laying out the next day's clothes before I go to sleep."
Adrian lied.
If he had not lost several dozen seconds waking Garrett, he could have made it outside even faster.
"Very good, soldier."
Adrian stood there staring at the three instructors for quite some time before people finally began filing out of the dormitory.
When they emerged, they saw Adrian already standing there in the distance.
"Anyone who comes out after him, form up behind him."
Just like that, Adrian took the first position, while everyone else lined up behind him in order.
Twenty minutes later—
"Anyone who still isn't out here, pack your things and go home!" the tall instructor shouted.
"As special operators, you need to stay alert at all times."
"If it takes you this long just to sort out your gear, how the hell are you supposed to fight?"
Several candidates who had just reached the dormitory entrance felt a surge of unwillingness.
But there was nothing they could say. The instructor was right. If they could not complete the formation in twenty minutes, they had already lost their qualification to become special operators.
More than twenty people now stood outside the dormitory. They were the ones who had passed the first assessment.
"Now we begin the first official assessment."
The instructor with the stopwatch took out a stack of maps and handed them around.
"This is a map of the mountain behind the base. You have three hours to reach this marked location."
Everyone took a map and began studying it.
The military base was located in a mountainous region.
A mountain rose behind the base, and the map depicted that entire area.
A red dot marked the objective for this mission.
"Your destination is five kilometers from here. You must arrive before daylight at 0600."
Covering five kilometers of mountain trails in three hours would be difficult for ordinary people, but it was hardly an impossible task for the best recruits from the various academies.
"Of course, our instructors will be trying to stop you along the way. Ten minutes after you depart, the instructor pursuit teams will set out after you."
Everyone immediately tensed.
"I thought it was just going to be a simple loaded cross-country march. Didn't expect us to have to evade a manhunt too."
Military discipline in this world was not especially strict. Unless an instructor was addressing them, private discussion was allowed.
"Yeah, and we don't have any illumination gear. It's overcast tonight, so we can't even see the moonlight."
"Instructor, don't we get any illumination equipment?" someone in the formation shouted.
"Of course. Come over and collect a flashlight."
Two soldiers approached carrying a large crate.
"You may choose whatever equipment you need from inside."
The twenty-odd candidates did not hesitate. They stepped forward and began selecting the gear they wanted.
The crate contained compasses and flashlights.
"Adrian, let's stick together."
Garrett walked over to Adrian and invited him to team up.
Adrian thought having a partner would make this kind of mission considerably easier, so he agreed.
They each took a flashlight and set off toward the mountain behind the base according to the map.
While everyone was choosing equipment, the instructors responsible for pursuing the candidates had already assembled.
They were fully equipped, though none carried firearms.
Adrian noticed a device mounted on each of their helmets. It looked very familiar.
The instructor responsible for timing them had worn the same device on his helmet.
"What is that?"
Adrian stared at it as more and more candidates began departing.
"Come on, Adrian. What are you staring at?"
Garrett patted Adrian, signaling that it was time to move.
"Garrett, what do you think that thing on the instructors' helmets is?"
Garrett followed Adrian's gaze.
"No clue. Don't worry about it. A lot of people have already left. If we don't get moving, the instructors will catch us."
With no other choice, Adrian set out with Garrett.
"Something's off. That thing looks like—"
Just as they were about to enter the woods, Adrian stopped.
"What is it now, Adrian?"
"Garrett, did you bring your poncho?"
Adrian had finally remembered what the instructors were wearing on their heads.
"Yeah, I brought it. But it isn't raining, so why are you asking?"
Garrett had rushed out so quickly that he had only put on the camouflage fatigues from his pack before shouldering it and leaving.
"Those are thermal imagers. Anything giving off heat will show up to them."
Night-vision devices and thermal imagers were very different things.
Night-vision goggles were typically binocular or quad-tube systems, using image-intensifier tubes to amplify available light and allow the wearer to see in darkness.
Thermal imagers, on the other hand, used infrared sensors to capture targets and displayed the image on a screen through the eyepiece.
The devices on the instructors' helmets clearly had only a single imaging module, so Adrian concluded that they were thermal imagers.
"Then what do we do?"
They were unfamiliar with the mountain trails and could not possibly match the special operators.
"That's why I asked whether you brought your poncho."
As he spoke, Adrian set down his rucksack, took out his poncho, and put it on.
"Look. The ponchos they issued us are military anti-infrared ponchos. The coating inside reflects body heat."
Adrian showed Garrett the reverse side of the poncho.
In his previous life, Adrian had not only played shooter games but had also visited plenty of military expos in person.
Nearly every country's individual combat equipment included a poncho.
Making tactical clothing waterproof was easy enough, so why issue a separate poncho?
After digging through a great deal of information, Adrian had learned that a poncho did more than keep off the rain—it could also counter devices such as thermal imagers.
The two put on their ponchos, but by then they had fallen some distance behind the main group.
"We don't need to follow them. There's a small trail here. We'll take this route."
Adrian took out the map and pointed out a narrow trail to Garrett.
In truth, Adrian did not know how to read a military map. When the two instructors had issued the mission, the System had already marked the objective on Adrian's minimap.
Besides, following the main group would make them too obvious. Since they had a way to counter thermal imaging, it made sense to operate separately.
"Ten minutes are up. Let's move."
On the instructors' side, the pursuit team consisted of twenty people.
Every one of them had a thermal imager, and nylon zip-tie restraints hung from their belts.
They had clearly prepared them to capture this batch of recruits.
"Search uphill. If you find a large group of recruits clustered together, break them up immediately."
The primary purpose of this assessment was to test the recruits' ability to operate alone.
Could they complete the mission after losing their bearings and being separated from their companions?
The instructor team climbed into off-road vehicles parked nearby and drove up along the winding mountain road.
That was right. The instructors were not searching from the foot of the mountain—they would begin the hunt from above.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register