Carida Elite Training Academy

[John Hammond]

The soldier stood perfectly still. He was dressed in full battle armour, and he stood in front of a menacing machine that was located at less than arm's length from him. The machine was roughly humanoid, with four arms a head, and a torso.

Suddenly, the machine moved. Without warning, the arms began to move back and forth, slicing through the air, punchig, slicing, cutting.

The soldier moved with lightning speed, blocking every blow with his arms, moving his body to avoid the blows, and then, impossibly, counterattacking. As the machine attacked relentlessly, throwing attack after attack, the soldier blocked and countered, making its fram shiver with each blow, a sickening thud created by each hit.

"3 hour training sessions. Only 2 minute breaks, all at random intervals, with no more than 10 breaks."
"What? And with what force is that machine hitting him?"
The machine is set to attack at half-full power; if he doesn't block properly, it will break his arm. If he doesn't block at all, he'll be ready for a trip to the hospital."
"And how strong is he hitting the machine?"
"Well, let's just say that if he hit you that hard, you wouldn't get back up at all."

As the two men went up the elevator, row after row of soldier became clear, each man fighting dearly for his life, the training center filled with the horrifying sounds of hand-to-hand combat.

"Magnificent."

[John Hammond]

"This is a new prototype armour." The two men were now walking into a large room, in the center of which a top-of-the-art armour floated in the air. It resembled a mixture of Mandalorian and Clone armour.
"The armour has been reinforced with new ceramic materials that absorb shots much better than the older versions. I am guessing that, on average, our soldiers may take up to twice as many shots before being wounded, but that's not saying much. That might mean only a couple of shots more. On the other hand, the armour is lighter, and more versatile. We have managed to eliminate up to 40% of the weight, and our technological advances have allowed us to increase the number of gadgets included in the armour."

The man grabbed a glove, and put in on. Upon clenching his fist, a long blade came out from beneath the palm. He unclenched it, and instead pulled back his hand from the wrist. Two blaster shots came out. Clenching his fist once more caused a large flame to erupt from the gauntlet, lasting a second or so.

"One vibroblade, minipistol with up to 8 double shots for close range, a flamethrower with 4 shots, and it may be customized with a pair of mini-rockets, and one long range radio transmitter. That's just for the gauntlet. Other parts of the armour are generally customizable, but they may include pretty much anything you might need. Oh, and the armour gadgets are thought controlled. New technology, but very expensive"
The other man was impressed. Before he could say anything, the Supervisor clicked some buttons, and an assault rifle came out from a hidden chamber. He took it, and held it in his hands.

"This... not even the Mandalorians have a weapon like this. It has long to short range capability, and can alternate between manual, semi-automatic and automatic fire. You can alter it to act as a sniper, or as a battle rifle, and it pounds over five times as much firepower as any other rifle in the galaxy. Magazine capability is at 1000 shots per canister, and it can fire 10 shots a second with automatic capabilities. On the other hand, magazines are not easily portable, soldiers can only carry one or two, since the materials they are made from are extremely valuable, and we can't afford to give them that many."

The Supervisor went to a shooting range and placed the rifle on his shoulder. He stood properly, took aim, and fired. The sound was like any other blaster rifle, but there was something different about the way it fired. He stood there, and fired five shots.

The armour came near; it was an Anti-Mech Trooper armour, almost the heaviest battle armour in Imperial usage. The armour had been hit in the helmet, the chest plate and even the leg. In all cases, the shot had gone in and out. The armour was ruined, with gaping holes blasted into it by the rifle.

"We call it the J-1 SBR; J-1 Super Battle Rifle. We're reserving it for our best and best only."

"Why is it called J-1?"

"J is for Jedi. This weapon... this weapon is meant to kill enemy Force-Users."

[John Hammond]

"All units, report to the Hangars, repeat, all units, report to the Hangars."

All through Carida, battle shuttles were being loaded. The elites looked at each other. Their time had come.