To Sabinus’ relief, the entirety of the fireteam assembled as ordered and were able to figure out where the rendezvous point was with limited information. It was a good start. Even Kargad managed to arrive on time, and the turian had watched him charge in from outside of the outpost and storm into the barracks to get prepared. He was suitably impressed.

What wasn’t impressive, however, was Serena Mathews immediately undermining his authority by approaching him as if he were a friend rather than a superior officer. His mandibles twitched with minor annoyance; so much for making a positive first impression on Anjor. 

[color=cadetblue]”Mathews, have the years of being out of the Alliance left you without military bearing?”[/color] He asked sharply, not responding to any of her social gabbing. [color=cadetblue]”Look to your squadmates. Formed up, at attention, and ready for instruction. Seeing as it has been some time since you’ve worn a uniform, I shall give you time to reflect on what it means to serve in APEX. Adopt the pushup position, count them off until I am convinced that you have reacquired the mental state of being required to serve in this outfit.”[/color]

Leaving the pink-haired human to her PT, Sabinus approached the assembled team. [color=cadetblue]”For those of you who do not know me, I am Lieutenant Sabinus Tannyx, overall commanding officer of Fireteam Echo. While APEX is a de facto military outfit instead of a properly structured one, I expect that each of you will respect that we are at war with the Kett, and whatever civilian and private experience you have will be checked when putting on the armour. Some of you have met me out of uniform, when each of us were simply prospective colonists coming for a new home. I was a security officer under Security Director Kelly, and now I am one of the officers who have been given command of a specialized strike force aimed at disrupting Kett activity and ensuring that our presence in Andromeda is not reduced to a dark and empty memorial to the hundred thousand lives that we are entrusted to protect. Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, the lives of every single colonist depend on what we do as a unit. While Mathews undoubtedly has enthusiasm for the task at hand, it is loose behaviour like that that can end up with soldiers getting killed in the field.”[/color] He paused, looking to Serena in the sand. He gave the order, [color=cadetblue]”As you were. Fall in.”[/color] he waited for Serena to get up and back into ranks before continuing.

Seeing Sabinius take a pause as he waited for Serena to fall back in line with the rest of the team, Tazen decided this was the best moment to introduce himself to the rest of the fireteam. “Greetings everyone, I'm Lieutenant Tazen. My job here is to provide support for Lieutenant Tannyx in his capacity as the leader of Fireteam Echo. What this entails, in brief, is that Fireteam Echo shall be divided in two sub-fireteams during missions so as to give us greater tactical flexibility in whatever assignment is given to us with me being in charge of one of said teams. This system will be operated in a rotating fashion between assignments, in other words the fireteams composition will be changed between missions.” Explained the Salarian briefly before falling silent once more and standing at attention next to Sabinius.

Walking along the assembled soldiers, he studied them as if this were a parade, looking them up and down and making lingering eye contact. [color=cadetblue]”Each of you were selected based on your service records, expertise and psyche profiles, and I will be frank, I am not a strict authoritarian. Since this is a loose military order, I expect each and every one of you to be self-sufficient and capable of performing your duties in the absence of direct command. Your gear is non-standardized, and each of you come from a very wide variety of backgrounds and experience; this is a strength I aim to exploit for our missions. Operational flexibility is paramount, and we will often be operating without support; it will often just be us out there, with whatever limited resources the Initiative or our angaran allies are able to spare.”[/color]

Finding it a good chance to address the Harvester in the room, Sabinus pivoted over to stand by Anjor. [color=cadetblue]”Allow me the honour of introducing you to Anjor de Sufva, our liaison from the angaran Resistance who has volunteered to serve alongside APEX and was subsequently assigned to Fireteam Echo. He is both here to show us how to survive in Heleus and how to counter Kett combat doctrine, as well as to provide cultural and political insight towards his people. It is our aim to return the courtesy by helping introduce him into each of our customs and cultures as well as the weapons and tactics we employ. We stand to learn a lot from one another, and what better way to build goodwill between our people than showing one another the most efficient way to ventilate the head of some Kett bastard from three kilometers away?”[/color] Sabinus asked, offering Hazan a toothy grin.

[color=cadetblue]”That said, at ease, everyone. When I said this was going to be a non-standard outfit, I meant it. No ranks, just follow orders when given and observe discipline in combat is all I ask, as well as the most important order of them all; the team comes first. Check your egos and the man or woman standing next to you is the other thing standing between victory and death, and let me assure you, there won’t be any alternatives. We are fighting for our lives out here, and many of you remember how for 14 months, we spent most of that time on the Nexus wondering if a major systems malfunction was going to be the end of us all. You are standing in Prodromos, the first concrete indication that we have a future here in Andromeda. I never stopped believing in that future, but this is the first time I’ve ever been able to put my boots on the ground and actually fight for it. I am sure you are all itching for that opportunity yourselves; am I wrong?”[/color] Sabinus asked, his tone warmer and less strict and proper than before. It was as if he were inviting them to reflect on why they were already here, not what the official paperwork said.  

Tazen let the team reflect on Sabinius’s words for a few moments before he broke the silence. “Now that everyone is up to speed more or less, it's time to begin training.” Spoke Tazen “We have set up a training exercise has been prepared for us to tackle. Specifically speaking, this exercise is a killhouse scenario.” Continued the Salarian, pausing for a second to let the rest of the team process what he had said. “The scenario will be set in such a way that the team is divided in two, as per the standard procedure discussed previously, with one team defending one of the staff members from Prodromos who has volunteered for the role of hostage. The second team will be the one on the offensive, it's main objective being the rescue of the hostage from the defending team.” He said “To this end repurposed prefabricated buildings have been put together to form a 2 story building with several rooms and entry points.” He said, continuing his previous explanation “Furthermore, to avoid any potential injuries, everyone will be issued a standard, non-lethal, firearm of their preference.” Finished speaking the Salarian “Lieutenant Tannyx will now reveal to which fireteam everyone’s been assigned to. After this is done you might have any questions that you might have. Otherwise we’ll proceed to the exercise immediately.” 

Sabinus picked up almost immediately. [color=cadetblue]“Fireteam one, on assault, will be comprised of Kargad, Kesir, Mathews, Volintis, and Noratus. On defense, Ward, Sedgoroh, T’Vessi, Khoroushi, Shunji  and De Sufva. Both teams will have five minutes to plan a strategy, and the attackers will stage out of sight of the killhouse as to maintain the element of surprise. Alright, Echo; on me, move out!”[/color]

Sabinus lead the team on a brisk jog across the sands to the outskirts of Prodromos where there were two distinct sets of structures; a guarded single-room armoury where racks of the non-lethal weaponry was stored and looked after by a quartermaster, and about 200 meters away in an open field was a two-story pre-fabricated structure made up of several modules and connectors; the ground floor was made up of 5 separate rooms, with an entrance on the North, South and West sides, and the top floor was connected by an interior staircase to the East as well as an exterior one heading up to what was essentially a balcony with waist-high covering around the perimeter. The top floor was made up of 3 modules, one opened up to the balcony itself, and the one parallel to the exterior staircase was overlooked by large bay windows. The bottom floor had similar bay windows on the North and South sides, giving plenty of visibility. The structures were pretty run down, and a number of training exercises had gone through there, evidently. 

Inside the armoury, one of the racks had 10 Avenger assault rifles, another 10 Predator heavy pistols, another 5 Mantis sniper rifles, and another 5 Katana shotguns. The armourer, an asari, explained; “The weapons are loaded with special riot control munitions that will deliver a rather nasty shock that will render the region that is impacted by the shot unable to move for a length of time depending on point of impact and the physicality of the target; some people have it wear off in about half a minute, others might be down for up to five. You shielding will absorb the impacts like a regular projectile, but once the projectiles hit unshielded armour, the armour will amply the shots across the entire piece, although your body glove may reduce the felt impact. Since this is a live fire exercise, if you do not have a helmet, we have spares, I am not having anyone lose a goddess damned eye on my range. Am I understood?

“This is Specialist Noori; she’s going to be your hostage for today.” the armourer introduced a small Southeast Asian woman with doe-like brown eyes, freckles, and an impressive braid of dark hair down her back who nevertheless looked like she took physical fitness more personally than her regular duties; she looked powerful. Noori looked Echo over. “So, who has the distinction of guarding me today?” she asked, helmet cradled under her arm.

When both teams were geared up, Sabinus pointed towards a rocky outcropping over a large dune. [color=cadetblue]“Alright attackers, you’re heading over there, and out of sight. As soon as I can’t see you any longer, your five minutes begins. Defenders, take up position inside the killhouse. Good luck and show us why you’re APEX material. Move out!”[/color]