As the horde of droids shuffled and clanked towards Brake's position, He kept tight with his resolve. He knew that as long as he was distracting the droids he would be giving Echo squad the valuable time they needed.

As he sat there powerless, listening to the synchronised stomping approach him. He could only think and estimate how much longer it would take for the damned spirits he commanded to take a blasted flag. It began to weigh on his mind that the squad kept taking longer than expected.

"How long does putting your hand on a blasted flag take?" He muttered to himself, tightening his fist.

There was no chance he could even look over at them from his position either. Suddenly Brake slapped himself in his visor. There was a reason these helmets had radios.

"Echo! What's the situation over there? I've got the whole droid army on my back!" He boomed down his radio, expecting a prompt excuse.

There was a small delay before a response crackled through. "Sorry, Sir! We've met unexpected resistance inside, they must have been in hiding! A few droids have dug in on the flag!" The sergeant cried through, audibly dodging blaster bolts.

It appeared the breakthrough had been bogged down at the last hurdle. Absolutely disastrous.

Brake felt his heart beat double time. His fists tightened. His eyes almost popped from their sockets. He was enraged. He was able to get this far but was stopped from completing the mission because a few pesky droids decided to jump out at the last minute. Furiously, he stared at his smoking rifle.

"That's it!" He slammed his elbow into the wall behind him.

If he was going to fail this diabolical exam, it was going to be on his terms. In his maddened state, he picked his ears up to listen to the droid advance. By his rough estimates, they were definitely a few feet from him now. A few more marching steps and he'd be able to touch them. That is exactly what he had planned. With his rifle destroyed, he was ready to let all this wrath out. He was going to be put down as a failure, so he might as well get some punches in before all of the disciplinary actions he was about to receive.

The final steps were finally arriving. 'At least it'll be over soon' He reflected. Brake gave his final preparations. He rolled his shoulders, flexed his fingers and fastened them into fists. Digging in his heels he prepared to jump just at the right moment.

Clank, Clank, Clank. They marched. Until he could hear the closest ones stop in their tracks. For a moment Brake hoped that Echo squad had finally captured the flag. But he was instantly taken from his dream when he saw the E-5 blaster barrel hovering over the wall.

They had reached him. Without hesitation, Brake Grabbed the barrel and pulled with all his might down to the ground. The B1 droid had no chance and buckled instantly. It flopped over the wall and struggled to push itself back up. Brake wrestled and wriggled with the finicky droid hand before it at last relinquished its hold over the Blaster.

Flipping and fumbling the blaster with his hands he was able to grab a good hold on it. He threw the barrel up, instinctively aiming at the droid hanging over him. He fired. His first droid out of tens more to try and take down.

In his bout of rage, he foolishly launched himself up. Focusing only on destroying what he could, his self-preservation instincts were flushed from him. As he dived up, he caught a glimpse of what lay before him. Tens of droids all aiming directly at him. He was definitely going to feel this in the morning. He winced as he attempted to prepare himself for a pelting of the stun bolts. He welded his eyes shut.

A thunderous call of alarms blared from every direction. Did Brake really just take all of those stun rounds without feeling it? Or more realistically, did the Master Chief stop the exam before Brake seriously hurt himself? It was definitely that.

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As Brake pried his eyes open he viewed the sea of metal mannequins before him. Most of their heads and bodies bent and limp from their deactivation. He felt different, the ambience of battle noise and radio chatter had now left his ears. Realising this, Brake quickly turned to his apparitional Sergeant. His body was gone. The simulation was entirely over.

"Cadet! Get up here!" The speakers roared over the false environment, it was the Master Chief.

Brake nodded and huffed.

From Brakes right, He could see a door reveal itself with a few emergency lights from next to it. That must've been the way out. As he approached the door dejectedly it hushed open to reveal a familiar face. It was 99. A maintenance clone, given the position due to his genetic abnormalities from the standard clone template.

"H-hey Brake" 99 announced as he hobbled in. His malformed face formed a smile. "Another test, huh?" he added as his hunched back straightened in surprise seeing the war-torn mess Brake had left in his wake.

"Yeah, 99" Brake sighed. "Sorry for the mess" he turned to the mess 99 would need to clean up.

"D-don't worry about it!" 99 limped past Brake as he began to drag a B1, starting to form a pile. "It's my d-duty after all!" he stammered as he enthusiastically continued his work.

Brake smiled and watched him work for a few more moments. 99 was a beloved clone on Kamino, and the Grand Army in general. Being a maintenance clone, it was his duty to perform cleanup duties for the training facilities. It was uncommon for clones to be grown deformed or disfigured from the Jango Fett genetic structure. However, it was still possible and these clones were sometimes referred to as 'Bad-Batches'. Instead of euthanizing these clones, the Kaminoans decided to use them for menial duties to save overhead costs. It was a very brutal way to think, but it did give good clones like 99 a duty to perform.

'Better hurry to get to the Master Chief' Brake thought. He quickly turned around and sped out of the door and rushed up to the viewing platforms.

As he walked through the doors he could feel a weight on his back. The other cadets stood watching him walk in. All of them not showing a single emotion. They must be scared to go next. Dr Komo, Shaak Ti and the Master Chief stood watching him approach. The Master Chief tapped his foot on the ground with his arms crossed.

'I'm really going to get chewed out here' He thought as he took his final steps to the Chief. Brake gave a final stomp and stood to attention before the trio.

"That was damned close out there!" The Master Chief pushed his index finger into Brake's chest. "What did I tell you about last-stand heroics!?" He pushed in again, rocking Brake back. "If any of you try those types of tactics down there, I'll personally come down there and batter it from your heads!" He pointed at the other Cadets.

Brake wasn't expecting the chewing out to be this light, he tensely awaited the next blast from the Master Chief's mouth.

"That ambush was clearly a blunder too!" He added. "Everything I saw down there needs improvement!" His fingers slammed down again on his chest. "Work on it!" The Master Chief proclaimed. He formed a fist and held it up to Brake's chin. "Or else you'll end up as target practice for the Cadets, I assure it." He hushed.

Taking a step back from Brake he looked at Shaak Ti then sighed. "But you handled it the best you could with no recon. I liked how you handled your Sergeants." He forced out his gritted teeth in a monotone.

He turned to the other Cadets. "Right! Who's next?" He clutched his datapad from his waist.

Brake was confused, That was barely a punishment. Especially since the Master Chief had to force out a compliment. His hopes began to build again, was it possible he had passed the exam just in time? He was scared to ask but even if he had failed he would just need to handle some more screaming from the Master Chief.

"Uhm-" He put his finger up, trying to show he had a question. "Master Chief? Did I fail?" He sheepishly asked.

The Master Chief threw his head up and pierced Brake with his ire. "Don't push your luck! You only barely did! Don't try and tell me because you passed it that you think you're the next Commander of the 327th!" He shouted at Brake.

It looks like Brake did pass. He couldn't believe it. There was no way that Echo Squad did make it. But the Master Chief must have thought that Blake's question was instead a retort to his criticism. Brake was just relieved that he passed and would be able to question it when the Master Chief gives breakdowns on everyone's performance.

All he wanted to do now was to leave this hall and this exam behind him. "You're right, Sorry Master Chief!" He saluted and stomped on the spot again. "May I be dismissed, Master Chief?" Brake proudly asked.

The Master Chief looked back down at his datapad "Yeah, Whatever. Just get the hell out of my sight." He groaned back.

"Dismissed, Cadet." Shaak Ti chimed in, smiling at Brake.

"Thank you, General!" He gave another salute. Then spun on the spot and began walking out.

'Finally, it's over' He thought.