Alex Rider pays a visit to Brecon Beacons...

Training

Viper, on his way to the mess hall, turned to face the spys."We do not expect you to do that, not even after a few years of training. You should aim for twenty minutes, and even the best might only get sixteen or seventeen. Today a record was broken, and we do not wish to have to break another record, this one the slowest time ever, currently held by a recruit who unsurprisingly failed. Their time was twenty-five minutes, fifty-four seconds."

The spys just stood, still taking in both the spectacle of fluid motions and the uninspiring speech just given by perhaps the best soldier ever. At just the right moment a shout pierced the shocked silence and a voice, recognisable as the sergeants, said loudly,"Hey! Get your butts on that course now or else!" The soldiers who weren't being spoken to shuddered and gave the group looks of pity. K and D unit shuddered too, but the operatives didn't look at all bothered by the threat. They soon changed their mind when a glare, almost matching Viper's and a bit fiercer than wolf's, was directed towards them. Never having seen any glare quite so threatening as Viper had yet to get angry at them, they quickly backed of and stumbled towards the course.

As the units slowly turned to face viper, he mumbled under his breath,"I'm going to get breakfast. See you later guys, group 1 to area 1, group 2 to area 2. I'll be there in ten."

Exactly ten minutes later, Viper stood by F units barracks, in the serene valley that housed the camp. Silently observing both groups arrive and split, he took a deep breath, absorbing the pure mountain air. When everyone had calmed down, he approached his group and helped them stop the final mutters of conversation. "This area houses the medical supplies and sheds, and it would be a shame for you to have no clue how to use them when they're so close. So, until 9:15 this morning, you will be instructed how to use the equipment available to you here."

Bear, D units medic, was paired with Eagle whilst Viper was with Hyena. Six recruits were with each pair, Viper having three males and three females, Eagle with four males and two females. Viper turned to face the group, automatically assessing there threat level. "With us, you will be learning about the basics of poisons and antidotes. When you switch to Eagle and Bear, you will learn about treating minor cuts and scrapes properly. So, poisons. Can anyone tell me the difference between poison and venom?" No answers. "Ok, so poisons only have to be touched, breathed in or injested to work their magic. Venoms, however, must be injected into the bloodstream to take effect. Any questions so far?" The lesson continued like that until Bear signalled to Hyena who passed it on to Viper, that the lesson was half-done and they should swap.

Over in Bears territory, things were going slightly better. "Has anyone ever had to treat a cut, scrape or bruise on the run?" A few nods."So what's important you do when you gain an injury like that?"  A girl nervously puts her hand up. "Name and answer please."

"Umm, my name Clara and its very important to clean out the wound as soon as possible to prevent infection." As Bear glanced at Viper, Viper mouthed 'she studied medicines at Oxford.' Bear made a mental note before continuing.

Meanwhile the other group were just finishing their second two mile run of the day, preparing for the next activity, a quiz on why exercise is important. After the quiz, they had five minutes to shower before they had to go back to the area they started in to meet and move on to area three. Unfortunately, another unit was using the showers, and the intrusive group were defiantly not appreciated.

Several hours later and Viper's group was on area three and had to practice evasion techniques. As an example, all twelve recruits had to throw hard plastic balls at Viper, who was standing on a table, roughly 1m X 1m. Every recruit had ten, and the soldiers each had five. They were to try and hit Viper as much as possible within two minutes, with only the balls they had in their bucket.

As the whistle was blow to signal the start, a torrent of plastic balls hurled through the air, looking as if they were heading straight for Viper. Viper ducked, twisted and jumped, but eventually had to resort to more creative resources. He jumped, tucking in his legs and making himself as small as possible, somehow landing in a bridge, just in time for the balls which flew both under and over Viper, none hitting the mark.

"Stop!" Yelled Hyena, pausing everyone. "Viper successfully evaded all balls." Without warning, Hyena chucked one, nearly hitting its mark only to find Viper doing the splits mid air, avoiding the ball. "Even that one. You can come down now Viper." Viper rolled his eyes and reached down to the table edge beneath his feet, grasping it firmly before doing a handstand on the edge of the table, flipping back and into a standing position. As if nothing had happened, Viper dusted off his hands, continuing with his lecture on evasion.

Lunch came and went, refuelling the spys energy. The 'food' was packed full of calcium and calories, with plenty of energy. These helpful attributes had the desired aftereffects of a disgustingly bland meal. The energy they gathered wasn't going to last long. Then, as a group, all twenty four spys and the eight soldiers trudged back to the assault course. The soldiers (especially Eagle) were all talking about how well they thought the spys would do on the course, most saying they would fail miserably. The Sun had come out, eager to watch the spys fail at the feared course. The group paused at the beginning, taking in the mud-filled run with fearful eyes.

"Listen, we don't have the time for you all to have an individual go. Therefore half will learn about the importance of fitness with Fox, Hyena, Snake and Hawk. The other half of you will be running the course with me, Viper, Bear and Eagle. Group 1, approach the start line." No one moved. "Get your lazy butts over to this line now!!!" It turns out Wolf can be very persuasive sometimes. His face was tense, red and did not look happy. By simply doing nothing, the recruits had brought out the bad side in Wolf.

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Authors note.
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise from the Alex rider series.
It's been so long since an update!! So sorry for the wait but I just started secondary school and its taken so long to get some time on my own at home. I need some interesting ideas for time fillers so my chapters aren't boring. I do have a basic plot, this isn't just something I make up as I go along. If you have ideas, please comment. Every comment I get fuels me on towards another chapter. I may soon go back onto previous chapters and add more description as I realized my writing seems to be raw narrative and story. None of my updating literature will include major plot changes, just a General clean up of grammar mistakes and plain description. Read and comment, and I hope you enjoyed so far!!!
Date published: 2nd october