Courses

Shortly after Carlos said he was going to start watching our sessions to catch the DS pulling the trigger on one of us, and when I mean shortly I mean the very next day, he did just that. It was the day of our 12 miles road march when the DS told us we had 45 minutes to do the 12 miles, and that we were not allowed to drink from our hydration bladders. It was...I think about 120 degrees outside? We were carrying 60 pounds of equipment, before we added our issue weapons and ammunition. Mercury, myself and Nina told him that we were going to be sipping water as we marched, unless he wanted to be picking up dead bodies. He flipped out and put two in my neck which knocked me out, and four in Mercury and Nina. According to Nina, the others held the DS at gun point until Carlos showed up with the MP's and arrested him. Our training was put on hold for four days while the Court Martial took place, which ended with the DS getting a dishonorable discharge. After that, we pretty much begged Morningstar to make Carlos our DS, and Morningstar said he'd leave it up to him. The next day, which was the day we were getting back to training, we ate breakfast and when we arrived at the tarmac, Carlos was waiting. He was rough, not so rough that we were passing out from exhaustion like we had the first night. Carlos never once shouted at us, but I'd be lying if I said that man didn't scare the crap out of me just by looking me in the eyes. I was taller than he was, though not by much, and if I told you over the phone that this Mexican dude, who was smaller than I was, scared the crap out of me, you'd laugh. Make sure your Vortex from my friend's story before you start saying Carlos couldn't scare you. That man would give Jason X and Freddie Cougar nightmares for the rest of their existence. Even though he scared the shit out of all of us, we still goofed off with him after training was over, we would make stupid jokes, watch TV, play video games and do all that stuff. Fuck he would watch SpongeBob if that's what was on. Mad respect for him, best friend anyone could ask for and a Damn good DS.

Those were pretty much our days. We woke up, had breakfast, trained, the little kids went to school, we ate dinner, had free time and then went to bed. Not bad all things considered. Also, something that I found rather pleasing, Nina had stopped being so harsh towards me and had started actually trying to get to know me. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to make a move yet, and seeing as how she was my age, I figured I didn't have anything to worry about from the others, so I could afford to play it safe.

Over the next 11 weeks, which were both, the best and worst of my life, we all packed on a little bit of muscle from the PT, learned how to fly, which was a very fun time. I used to wonder how an Southern would stay airborne. Remember how Superman used to fly on his Saturday morning show? Just stick wings on his back and you get the idea. We learned tactics, such as how to clear rooms of hostiles, how to enter safely, basic and advanced cover and concealment, Martial arts, blade fighting and even how to use our liquid nitrogen, which was some awesome shit. Basically, it worked like this: your appendix was turned into "The Glass jar" (not official, just what Carlos called it) there was a set of tubes similar to blood vessels that were insulated from the cold that allowed it to come up to a muscle in the back of your throat that shot it out in a 50PSI jet stream, which Carlos said was enough to get someone through glass. We also found out that the area around the tips of our noses and the edges of our mouths had scales on them that were composed of a different type of Silicon than the rest of us, it didn't block bullets, but the LN wouldn't stick to it and freeze our mouths shut. The good thing was that as along as we had breath, we could spray LN all day long. Another cool thing was that the tubes that carried the LN ran all throughout our bodies, acting as a kind of coolant. There was an organ attached to the base of our spine near our tails that was like a thermostat, when our internal temperatures got too high, it kicked on and the LN would cool us off. Just to show us how effective it was, there was one day when we had a temperature nearing 140 degrees and Carlos dressed everyone up in Juggernaut armor and then put us through a PT course, no one overheated once. Not saying it wasn't hot, because it was, but still, wearing the armor was awesome.

Also over those 11 weeks, we got our guns, the best week for everyone, Carlos treated it like one big range day and was just serious enough to get his point across without ruining the fun of mag dumping into a car full of tannerite so it explodes like Call of Duty, which in hindsight, only happened because Carlos wanted to shoot a car and see it explode.

The Project Venom Armory had some firearms I had only ever touched in Modern Warfare and Medal Of Honor, some of them I had handled in real life, but most no. There were variants of the AR, AK, ACR, M240, Mk-46 GPMG, a Barrett .308 Magnum, Mini 14's, M-14's, Remington 700's, Mossberg 700's, a Grim Reaper Magazine fed 40mm grenade launcher, a rocket launcher based on the bastard child of the RPG and M72 LAW, and a goddamn flamethrower! There were only three handguns, the Colt 1616, which was custom, 1911 patterned 9mm handgun made specially for us, the HK Mk-23, and a Desert Eagle. The others were admiring the arsenal when I asked Carlos.

"Who gets what?"

The answer made my jaw touch the ground.

"Anything you want", he said, "you get three to carry with you and the rest are kept here and you can switch them out as you please."

Anything I want is a lot. I pretty much spent that whole day, as did the others, building my three guns. My primary was a two colored SM-220 LMG which was a featherweight version of the M-249 SAW termed the "Tin Can" due to it's 6 pound weight and the sounds it made when the bolt was worked. The furniture, rails, grip and stock were desert tan while I left the body stock black. My optics was a Leopold 4X12 rifle scope with an Aimpoint Mini 4 stuck to the picatinny that was on the scope itself, the scope itself was tan and the red dot was black. I swapped out the stock for a Magpul UBR with a cheek rest and the traded the standard grip for a Magpul MOE because it felt better in my hand. I had a Magpul foregrip upfront and Magpul BUIS in case I lost the scope. The rail covers were XTM made by Magpul and the same ones my Dad had on his AR-15. I sighed when I put those covers on. It was the first time I had thought of either of my parents since this started weeks ago. I wondered if they knew where I was, or what I had become. Knowing my Mother she was worried sick and my Dad was probably looking for me. I made a mental note to talk to Morningstar later and kept building my guns. My secondary came in the form of a S-30 Combat Rifle which was a lighter variant of the Rugger Mini-14. I left most of the base parts on this one, switching out the rail covers, stock, pistol and front grips and the BUIS to Magpul and using the same scope that I had on my SM-220. I had an SR-25 flash hider on this one which I also added to my SM-220 because it looked good. This one had a Magpul magazine which I left alone. And my sidearm? Obviously, the Desert Eagle. You can't put me in a room full of guns, one of which is a DE, tell me I can have whatever I want and not expect me to pick the DE. I put a laser sight and flashlight on it with a Magpul Ranger plate on the magazine. The paint was two tone, silver for the main and black for the grip. The offered it in black and even gold plated (wasn't real gold, Carlos told me later it was brass), but silver was how I knew that gun, so that's what I picked.

Nina had an S-45, a lightweight variant of the M4 with Magpul grip, stock and magazine, an EoTech sight, USGI flashider and an M203 grenade launcher. She placed the same parts on her S-30 and selected a HK Mk23 with a USGI flash hider as a secondary. Jayden had an S-46, again a lightweight variant of the AR-10, which was sporting a manual bolt action. He had a Magpul PRS stock and a hand rail with no picatinny expect for where he placed a Magpul 45 grip. He had a big Trijjicon scope on it and, here's a surprise, a suppressor that was over a muzzle brake met for a Scar H. Most of the parts, minus the rail and sniper scope, applied for what was turning out to be our team's go to secondary weapon, the S-30. The MK-23 he selected also had a suppressor. Arnett used the same primary and secondary that Nina did, the S-45 and the S-30, though she opted for hybrid sights and front grips over Nina's EoTech and grenade launchers. Like everyone else, the Mk-23 was her sidearm, though she chose to leave it stock and not modify it. Mako, he grabbed an S-45 and an S-30 and then slapped about 30 grand worth of thermal sights, laser range finders and flashlights to them. Even his handgun wasn't spared from the technological revolution. If someone had seen him at the range with those guns, they might think he owed them something because the parts on his rifle were worth more than there house. That same day we built our vests. Carlos showed us how to set them up for our weapons and then like he had with the guns, gave us free reign. I set mine up so the mags for my S-30 were riding on my sides while the boxes for the SM-220 were on my stomach and the grenades and flash bangs were on my chest. The DE and it's ammo rode on my right leg, the assault pack was on my back with all the gear I'd need for a combat operation and a few random things were in a drop pouch on my leg. Once everything was said and done, my rig, plus weapons and armor was about 100 pounds, which included my Ruck and all my ammo. Though we wore the cammo around the base, I changed our teams uniforms to blue jeans, combat boots, white shirts and short sleeved Tri Color desert jackets.

The next two weeks were Firearms and Explosives as well as wargames, which included Lone Wolf, in which one of us would face the other nine in increasingly difficult waves until the loner was killed, Breach And Clear, in which one team would enter a training house and clear Carlos' Marines and the other team of dragons from then house, Snatch And Grab, in which Morningstar would be taken Hostage by Carlos and his team and the ten of us would have to fight through to rescue him and then there was Team Deathmatch, COD style. Carlos and the Marines would Play Taliban and we played Venom. They would get Ak's from the armory, load up with simulation ammo, pick a spot and then our job was to eliminate them. Carlos made it clear upfront that whenever we played TDM, that the second we started the run and gun shit we would lose that game off the practice schedule. The funniest scene we ever had was when Carlos and Nina ran out of ammo at the same time, so rather than reload, Carlos threw down his AK and pulled out a fake knife where the blade went up inside the handle to simulate the stab. Nina drew her HK and shot Carlos in the foot. When it tripped him up she, myself and Arnett, who were the last three on our team, took him as a prisoner.

It was a while before I got to ask Morningstar about my parents. I was told that they knew where I was and would come to see me after training was completed, but I wasn't sure I bought it. Morningstar had been a great friend so far, so I wasn't sure why I was questioning this off all things, but nonetheless I did.

Now, let me tell you a little about the reason why Morningstar moved to California, in New York, it rains, a lot. Like, right after you wash the car, every damn time. The last rainstorm we had at A-51 was so bad that Morningstar had to push the driving week of training back because it washed out the race track. They day they got it repaired, we were told the driving course would start the next day. I woke up that day fairly antsy. I wondered what we would be getting to drive, since we were required to beable to handle Front Engine cars across all three drivetrains as well as cargo, heavy vehicles and Mid Engine supercars. I knew that supercars were last on the list, and since we only had a week, I assumed we wouldn't get much time behind any of them. I didn't want anyone to waste any time that day, because in my book, the sooner we were putting rubber to the road the better. I drew hostility from all of Sabre team and all of my friends, but I didn't care. When breakfast finally was done, we walked to the Tarmac, Morningstar joining us on the way. Carlos was waiting there with three cars that looked similar, bearing Chevy Bow ties, two Ford F-150's, a Semi and two Lotus Exiges. All the cars were modded to hell and some of them, the two Lotus' in particular, were sitting in a way that was screaming, 1000 wheel horsepower.

"Today we will start Track Week", Carlos said, "the purpose of this is to make sure you can get into and drive any vehicle that might be in the field well enough to save your lives. Over the course of this week, we will field the Supercharged, Front Engine Rear Wheel Drive, 721 crank horsepower Chevy Z21, the Front Engine Front Wheel Drive, 455 wheel horsepower Chevy Z22 and the Front Engine All Wheel Drive, 900 wheel horsepower Chevy Z23. For Cargo we will field the Front Engine Rear Drive Ford F-150 Platinum and the Front Engine All Drive Ford F-150 Super Duty. Out two fielded Supercars are 900 Horsepower Twin Turbo V8 Lotus Exiges with AWD and RWD."

"I didn't understand any of that", Nina said.

'I did", I said, "who gets to go first?"

"Morningstar is gonna drill Sabre on Cargo first and I'm gonna take you guys on Sports cars, Supercars are last on the list at the end of the week."

"Of course they are", I said, "so who gets to drive what first?"

"Who ever wants to go first", Carlos said, "first up is the Chevy Z21."

"I'll go first", I said. Carlos tossed me the keys and pulled open the door of a dark green car with what had to be a racing body kit on it. There were custom wheels and a huge Boyd Aerodynamics spoiler on the back. The inside of the car was tan, sported aluminum for the dash and center console as well as the pedals and the steering wheel was out of a rally car. The speedometer had 240 miles an hour on it and there was a "RWD" logo underneath the tach as well as a "Diesel Fuel Only", sticker in the fuel gauge.

"Lot of stuff in here", I said, "I like that aluminum dash...gonna do that on my Civic."

"Ace", Carlos said, "this isn't your Civic, listen to me well, this car is ridiculously overpowered for this chassis.

Every Chevy Z car that I've ever been in that had more than 552 horsepower got progressively worse the more power you added. Secondly, it has a live axle in it. And as great a job as they do at minimizing the live axle, if you are going fast through a corner and you hit a bump it will take a hop on you. If you are not prepared for said hop you will end up going off track, backwards. Okay, we can go play now."

I pressed the clutch in and placed the car in neutral before starting it. I didn't know what was under the hood, but the sound that supercharger was making...was like nothing I'd ever heard. It was a high pitched, whiny sound that was...dare I say annoying? I don't even know if it was a good sound, there was just a lot of it.

"What's under the hood of this thing?", I asked as I pulled up to the starting line.

"Twin Supercharged V6", Carlos said, "now Ace, the point here is to lay down a good lap, while at the same time not driving like a maniac."

Carlos kept talking, but all I heard was 'good lap'. My focus was only on the track as the time went from red to yellow and then to green. Carlos was in the middle of a sentence when I put the car in first gear and matted it, taking him by complete surprise as the supercharged 6 launched the car down the first straight and I shifted to second gear.

"Holy shit you don't fuck around!", Carlos said as I downshifted back to first for the first corner, which was an Apex. The car definitely had a manual rack, but it was very light and there was little input required to fling the car through the corner at 60 miles an hour. There was a bit of rear suspension travel and tire screech as the rear end swung around to meet the front, which required me to yank the wheel right, which was the opposite way I wanted to go.

"Little bit of grip loss in the rear", I said tightening the strap as I went down the straight away.

"Don't enter a corner so fast!", Carlos said.

"I drove modified cars for a living Carlos", I said, downshifting for another corner, "I know what I'm doing."

The next corner was an S which I was able to steer the Chevy through with very moderate difficulty. There was another long straight away that I couldn't see the end of, so I put the pedal to the floor and went through all but one gear before the next turn came into sight, which lead to a piece of tarmac that went up and over a hill. I slowed down for the turn and then gunned it as I went over the hill, finding that the next set of roads was almost nothing but corners and the wove up and down through a few dunes.

"This should be fun", I said shifting into second gear.

The Chevy hated those corners. That thing was all over the place and the rear end barely had contact with the ground. Carlos and I both agreed that the live Axle should be ditched after today. Once we cleared the dunes, the road just, ended and went to prepacked sand. There was a decent amount of traction at the rear, but not as much as I would have liked. I was able to get the Chevy through most of the corners, but lost it on turn three on the sand road and we almost tipped over. Like he said, "If you are not prepared for said hop, you will end up flying off the road backwards", and I did. At the end of the sand road was a few more corners that went through dips and then long straight. I gave the Supercharged Six what ever it wanted as the car flew down the straight, the blower whining like a raptor on a whole bunch of great drugs!

"There's not enough room!", I laughed, "this track is too small for this car! There's not enough straights, the corners are all tight, you need a car like this on a bigger track with more room. This is unquestionably the fastest car I've ever driven, the coolest car I've ever driven and the most unique car I've ever driven."

"Just wait", Carlos said, "the shit will get a lot better."

My time for the Z21 was 6:09.000, while in the Z22 I drove 6:45.982 and in the Z23 it was nearing five minute territory at six dead. The three cars brought my track day to an end, though I was told that once this week was over, I would have access to them all at regular hours and could improve my time and my skills. This was turning out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.