Tartarus

Semper Fidelis

Two men stand at the beginning of an obstacle course, with large bags slung over their shoulders and a kind of oversized motorcycle helmet covering their faces, the two men are surrounded by others, all wearing matching fatigues, with identical bags on their backs, a man in a camo jacket and cargos, with a pair of dog tags hanging from his neck, stands beside the group, facing them as they stare towards the course

"This is the first step recruits, down a long and painful road, either you run this course in the allotted time and pass, or you don't, and I personally boot your asses straight back to basic, are we clear!?"

The recruits all respond in unison

"Yes sir!"

The man smiles

"Good, now-"

The man draws a pistol from his right hand holster and fires it into the air

"Get moving!"

The recruits all scramble towards their first obstacle, a large net leading up to a wooden platform, the majority of the recruits struggle to even get halfway up, groaning and panting while they pull themselves up, two recruits, however, get considerably ahead of their peers, instead pushing their arms through the net, and putting their back's to it, using the net as a support to hold the bag up, the first recruit reaches the top, dropping the bag on the wooden platform to rest

"Easy as-"

He takes several deep breaths

"Pie"

The other recruit puts his hand out

"Stop gloating and help me up"

The first recruit grabs his hand

"Well, you forgot the magic word, but i'll make an exception this time"

He pulls the other recruit up

"You're a dick"

"Aren't I just?"

They both chuckle, before turning to their next obstacle, a set of metal bars they'll need to climb across, the second recruit turns to the first

"What's your brilliant plan now Einstein?"

The first recruit looks around the bars, thinking of a way to cross

"I've got it"

The first recruit picks his bag up, pulling one of the straps so it loosens, and wrapping the other strap around his arm

"I follow so far"

The first recruit uses his weight to keep the bag from falling through the bars, he jumps up on top of the bars, beginning to crawl whilst pushing the bag across, the second recruit grabs his bag

"Are you sure we're even allowed to do this?"

The first recruit looks back at him

"You're welcome to try swinging across"

The second recruit sighs, recreating the process the first recruit, as the other recruits finally catch up, one of them steps forward, gesturing at the two recruits

"You can't do that!"

The first recruit, who has almost crossed the gap, turns to the angry recruit