Through The Eyes Of: R.A.R.S. Ofc. Conrad Hale on his first day with the service
Hale Residence
Residential District, Regunalia City,
Fortessium Duchy, Centria,
Regunalia
Monday, 5:30 AM
The incessant beeping of my alarm signaled the start of a new day as it had a thousand times before. I turn it off and look at the clock, 5 AM, dead on time. I rouse myself from underneath the covers and head to the kitchen. Today was my first day back after my off week, Chief messaged me about having some kind of news for me before morning briefing, so best not be late. A part of me is hoping this mysterious news has something to do with my request to be elevated to the ranks of the Armed Response Service, another part of my is wishing it doesn't and I finally get some kind of recognition from up top. Anyway, breakfast for me consisted, as it sometimes does, of steak and eggs with a tall glass of orange juice. Say what you want about the Regunalian Royal Army, but when it comes to the nutrition of the men, they don't mess around. Steak and eggs for breakfast meant you were working hard or training that day, and some habits are hard to kick. After a hearty breakfast, it was off to the bathroom to brush up and hit the showers as I normally do. The fun thing about morning showers is they help me wake up and have the right attitude going into work. Always nice for someone working in the emergency services. The next item on the morning to-do list is of course comb my hair and get dressed up in my patrol uniform. If you don't want to be late, there's a bit of an order of operations to it, follow that and you save time. First thing to go on is the standard-issue Level IIIa KR2 ballistic vest, on top of that goes the patrol shirt. With both on, the casual observer wouldn't even know I was wearing a ballistic vest but it's rated to defeat up to .44 Magnum. Long and short of it is it gets the job done without being cumbersome. Next are socks, then uniform trousers, then standard-issue boots. The single sky blue stripe on either side of the trousers mark me as a grade 2 officer, the boys who have been in for a while and have some experience in the field. Looped through the belt loops goes my belt rig, which carries most of the equipment any officer is required to carry with them. from right to left, I have my .44 Magnum service pistol, 5 pistol mags, pepper spray, 2 sets of 2 handcuffs each, 8 zip ties, baton, and finally my taser. Last to go on is my chest rig which holds my radio, notepad, and pen. Throw on my uniform cap and I'm ready to go. I lock up and drive down to the station.
6:15 AM
Upon reaching the station, I buzz into the staff parking lot and park up in my usual spot. As I head in, I give our receptionist Sarah a passing hello. Sarah is an absolute workhorse in the station and fights tooth and nail to help us any way she can. I've been told other departments in Centria are jealous; Good, maybe they can improve their ops because of it. I head through the staff door into the common room and head straight down the admin hall to the Chief's office. I give a light knock on the Chief's door.
[Officer Hale]: "Sir? It's Officer Hale, you wanted to see me?"
[Chief Patton]: "Come on in Hale, got some good news for you."
Chief Patton and I go back to my time in the Regunalian Army, he was the Staff Sergeant in charge of my squad, he retired before I did and I thought I'd never see the lad again. When I heard he'd found himself Chief of Police in Regunalia City, I naturally signed aboard. As I enter, Chief Patton motions for me to sit down and I oblige. He places what I can only assume is a letter in front of me. "Your new orders." He says with a wink. I pick up the letter and find that it reads as follows:
"To the attention of:
Officer (Grade 2) Conrad Hale
Regunalia City Police Department
Regunalia City, Centria
Officer Hale, I hope this communication finds you in good health. At your request, we've consulted with Chief Patton and Sergeant Tatum, and your qualifications have been reviewed thoroughly. In recognition of your exceptional service and commitment to duty, and with the approval of both Chief Patton and Sergeant Tatum, the board as voted unanimously to APPROVE your elevation to the Centrian Armed Response Service. Your standing orders are now to report to the C.A.R.S HQ at 212 8th Street and report in by 7:30 AM for training, your new Sergeant is C.A.R.S Sergeant Lincoln Bellamy, to whom you will report from now on.
-Philip Cook, Chair of the C.A.R.S Applicant Review Board"
[Chief Patton]: "Best be getting a move on, C.A.R.S. doesn't like to be kept waiting."
[Officer Hale]: "Yes sir!"
6:45 AM
Welp, there it was. The news I'd been waiting for for a month that felt like centuries. Patrol is fine, don't get me wrong, but it's a bit quiet. You'll get long blocks of peace broken up by short spurts of action. The Centrian Armed Response Service is at a different pace entirely, C.A.R.S only gets called out for when an armed response is a requirement and it can't be handled by normal officers. It comes with upgraded equipment and training necessary for the role. I jog down to the staff parking lot, fire up the car, and get on my way. It doesn't take me too long to find the C.A.R.S HQ, it's only a 15-minute drive from the station and is unmistakable due to the shield of the Armed Response Service featured prominently and a pack of Bulldogs1 lined up in the side parking lot ready to go. I park up and head in. Sergeant Bellamy just happened to be finishing up some paperwork at the front desk as I walk in. "Officer Hale, I presume?" he asks while reaching for a handshake. "Indeed, and you must be Sergeant Bellamy, well-met sir." I say.
7:15 AM
[Sergeant Bellamy]: "Alrighty, you're early, but that's going to work to our benefit. I've already done the groundwork and arranged for your equipment. Head down to the armory, down that hall, the last door on the left. Our armorer will give you your new standard issue.
I nod and head down to the armory as instructed. I am met with a small room with a grizzled man at a desk in front of a door labeled "Armory - Authorized Staff Only" at the far end and a row of what looks like changing stalls on the right side. [Armorer]: "Come on over, I won't bite. What's your name smoothie2?"
[Cadet Hale]"Officer Hale, sir. You're the armorer I take it?"
[Armorer]: "So I am. Alrighty, let's get you your standard issue. What size are you?
[Officer Hale]: "Extra Large top, 32-30 bottom last I was measured."
[Armorer]: "That'll do, give me a minute or two." The armorer steps into the armory and returns a short while later carrying various pieces of clothing. "C.A.R.S Uniform Shirt in XL, Level III KR2/SP2 Ballistic Vest, C.A.R.S. Uniform Trousers, Level III Ballistic Helmet, 500 Magnum 8-Cylinder Revolver, MAR-3P3 Automatic Rifle with 3 training mags, and a duffel bag to carry it all. Pick a stall and get dressed."
I collect the stated items and head into one of the stalls and get changed as instructed. I walk out of the stall and return to the armorer.
[Armorer]: "Alrighty, sign this release and head to briefing, out the door to the right, 2nd door on your right."
I sign off on the release and head to the briefing room as instructed, time to get training I presume. As soon as I open the door, the first thing I hear is
[All assembled in unison]: "SMOOTHIE" (Shouted happily as if greeting an old friend)
[Sergeant Bellamy]: "Alright, Alright, don't worry about the hazing too much Hale, it'll stop once you have your shield." (looks to assembled C.A.R.S) "Now down to business, as you all have no doubt surmised, we have a smoothie among us. That means we need to train him up in A.R.S tactics and procedures. It's time for Hell Week. Today is day 1, room clearing, Hale and 1 volunteer will run the hell course as many times as it takes to set in tactics. Tomorrow, we cover urban ops, setting perimeters, breaching, and securing a structure before detectives come in. We continue until we've covered and set in every type of op Hale can expect to go on. Anyway, Johnson, you've volunteered to run it with Hale, so while I prep OPFOR, go over the basics with him would you please.
[Officer Johnson]: "Yes Sergeant."
Sergeant Bellamy leaves the room with the other 7 officers while Officer Johnson looks over to me.
[Officer Johnson]: "Alright, let's see what you know." Officer Johnson walks up to the whiteboard and draws a rectangle "Let's say for the fun of it, this is a room you need to clear, where are the points of interest?"
[Officer Hale]: "Corners, points of domination, deep left, deep right, shallow left, shallow right, clear deep left and right as you enter, clear shallow left and right with all due haste afterward."
[Officer Johnson]: "Exactly right, someone paid attention in their time in the military. Just remember to pay attention to the hand signals of the officer in charge, we'll train you up on the rest on the course." Johnson keys his radio. "Razer 1 this is 4, the smoothie is course ready, over."
[Sergeant Bellamy (over radio)]: "4, this is 1, bring him over, out."
Officer Johnson leads me out the back door of the station and I see it. The hell course.
[Sergeant Bellamy]: "LINE UP GUNS UP"
Officer Johnson steps up to the right of the line and I join him immediately to his right. He looks over to me and I nod.
[Sergeant Bellamy]: "Set, GO"
Officer Johnson and I simultaneously move with a purpose into the course and approach a doorway on our right. Officer Bellamy puts a hand on the doorknob from the right and I stack on the left. Johnson hauls the door open and I enter, immediate contact deep left, engaged, hit center-mass, shallow left clear. "Left Clear." I say. "Right Clear, Room Clear." Johnson replies. we run through the remainder of the course in a similar fashion until I lose focus on the second to last room. We are forced to run the course again and again until on the final run of the day we finally make a clean run. We are debriefed and I head home. "6 more days of this." I mutter to myself. If I want a spot on the team, I'm going to have to earn it. But for now, time to get some rest."
1: "A pack of bulldogs" Armed Response Service slang. The main truck used by the service is the AGT-13 (Armored Ground Transport Model 13, IC equivalent of the Lenco Bearcat), affectionately known as the "Bulldog". A group of such vehicles numbering 3 or more is jokingly referred to as a pack.
2 "smoothie" a derogatory term for R.A.R.S trainees. They are so-called because they've yet to earn their Armed Response Service shield patch, and therefore their shoulder is smooth
3 "MAR-3P" 7-Sided Star Standard Naming Convention, Military Automatic Rifle Model 3, Police Variant
