"Gah...do I have to drink this crud in front of the camera?” Seth gags after taking a sip of Mountain Dew. “You guys know how much I hate drinking this stuff.” He puts the aluminum can on the coffee table in front of him. “Dang, I think I might of spilled some on my fatigues!”
"Seth, we can’t be upsetting our sponsors by not featuring their products.” A girl with blonde hair and twin braided ponytails comments from a leather armchair in front of him on his right. She’s wearing a gray parka and denim blue skinny jeans, just like everyone else in her squad.
"Just hold the can every once and the while.” A guy behind the camera suggests. He’s a Hispanic guy with a short rough mustache which makes him look like an certain green Italian plumber. He adjusts the camera next to another girl, also in Seth’s squad. She’s not very talkative and has a stoic look in her face as she adjusts flood lights directed towards Seth and the brown leather couch he’s sitting in.
"That’s a good suggestion Luis! To heck with drinking this...ahh!” Seth shields his eyes from the flood lights. “Bibi! Aim those lights lower! You’re going to ruin my perfect eyesight.”
"Ugh. I’m trying...jeez.” Bibi scoffs while lowering the flood lights. “You don’t have to act like a little girl Seth.”
"You try sitting in this couch if you think I’m being a wuss about this!” Seth cross his arms as his posture slops on the couch. “Man, who knew being in a film studio like this would be so stressful.”
"Hm...I wouldn’t say this all looks like a film studio set.” The blonde girl comments.
"What do you mean, Courtney?”
"Seems more like a por...”
"Courtney! Watch it! We’re trying to freaking be advertiser friendly here!” Seth interrupts her with agency. “How are we going to receive ad revenue if we’re acting like Bass Squad here?!”
"The camera’s aren’t rolling, Seth.”
"Bad habits lead to mistakes, Courtney. We have to be professionals here.”
"Cut him some slack, Courtney.” Bibi interjects. “Seth doesn’t like to hear jokes about sex. He’s too naive for that sort of stuff.”
"Jokes about what?”
"Awesome, I got the camera right on point. Not bad for a bunch of gamers huh?” Luis proudly says. “Lights, camera, are we missing anything else?”
"We’re still waiting on Lion Squad to arrive, Luis. I don’t know what’s taking them so long. Don’t they operate around this area.”
"We are working with international special forces.” Courtney takes a sip from her cup of coffee and starts watching “doom-scrolling” videos with her tablet. “I’d imagine they all had to take their own flights just to be here.”
"It’s a shame they weren’t able to fly here with us.” Bibi’s lips curl into a smirk. “They should had seen Seth holding onto his luggage like a scared child when our plane took off.”
"It was my first time flying! I was nervous!”
"Seemed more than just nervous, Seth.”
"Ugh...well don’t expect that next time. I finally got on my first plane ride ever. It means nothing to me now.” Seth focus his attention on Courtney. “Hey, make yourself useful and tell me what the tournament standings are so far? I didn’t bother watching the other team matches before we came to Germany.”
"Seriously? Right now? Aw come on. I was on a brain rot streak.” Courtney closes her video app and opens up a webpage on her browser. “Well. I can tell you for a fact we made it through the first gauntlet.”
"No duh, Courtney. Who else? Anyone that seems like a threat to us so far?”
"Uh….I don’t think so?” Courtney ponders for a while. “Seems like Bass Squad and Charleston Squad won their match...but we already know they are a niche team. Meal Team Six and Bayou Patrol made it through the first round…um….Vampire and JarPig Squad made it through the first gauntlet too.
"Vampire Squad” You mean Asura’s new team?” Seth rolls his eyes. “That girl was such a crybaby. Did losing against us in her former Leaf Squad tick her off so much to start her own squad? Pfft. She single highhandedly caused her entire squad to lose with her mistake. But maybe she actually thinks she stand a chance against us.”
"Well, they are going up against the other winners of the first round.”
"Glam Squad and Kraken PMC?” Seth suggests. “Cheyenne was a fine soldier and put up a good fight when she was with Flamingo Squad during the finals.”
"Well….actually…” Courtney squints her eyes at the tournament results. “They lost against a team consisting of Armadillo Squad and Longhorn squad….never heard of them.
"Oh? That’s weird, Courtney.” Seth raises his eyebrow. “I figured Cheyenne would had done something cool with her new team. Who the heck are Armadillo or Longhorn Squad anyways?”
"They seem like a bunch of nobodies to me.” Courtney remarks as she looks at the team stats. They seem new. Very new. But somehow they were able to win against Glam Squad and Kraken Squad with only one casualty."
"That’s kind of suspect that they were able to beat one of our former rivals, Seth.” Luis looks over at Courtney’s tablet. “Cheyenne is a very experienced soldier, and Zander’s Kraken PMC is supposed to be highly skilled. They don’t seem like the kind of team to be defeated so easily.”
"Nah...that’s nonsense.” Seth waves his hand dismissively “They didn’t win against Flamingo Squad. Cheyenne was just one member. The only reason Flamingo Squad was even a threat to us in the last tournament was because they had all of their members. Glam Squad can’t be Flamingo squad. It might as well be an entirely new team. We can’t be Raptor Squad without me or any of you all who fought alongside me in the last tournament. My YouTube Channel can’t be Seth Tactical without me. Otherwise, it’s just tactical.” He says jokingly. “Asura may be an emotionally driven maniac but if I have to place any bets, it’ll probably be on her. She is out for my blood in this tournament, but I’m not afraid of her, let alone those amateurs from Texas...Longhorn Steak House and Armalarmadingdong or whatever they call themselves."
A military base intern comes into the studio door. “Raptor Squad. Lion squad had finally made it to the base. Get ready to start streaming.” Seth gives the female intern a thumbs up as she leaves the studio.
"You heard the intern. Get to your places people. It’s streaming time.” Seth raises his Mountain Dew but stops himself as he nearly forgets that he hates this drink and wouldn’t want to be seen being grossed out by the drink on live stream. Luis stays behind the camera, making sure the camera angle is perfect and ready to record at command. Courtney stays out of the camera on her armchair, watching the pre-stream chat on Seth’s YouTube channel; monitoring the comments from the viewers whom have given them grief in the past with trolling. She opens up another tab to announce on a social media website that Seth Tactical will be live streaming very soon. Bibi dims the lights just slightly so they don’t cause any over exposure once the stream begins. Seth sits in the middle of the couch, Mountain Dew in his hands as he keeps his focus on the camera in front of him. A group of four men walk into the studio. They are wearing multicam fatigues and balaclavas which cover everything but their eyes. They are clearly fit, muscular, and could probably snap Seth like a twig if they wanted to. The only thing that differentiates them from each other is their nationality patches on the fatigues. One of the members of this military squad has a patch from the United States, another from Great Britain, and the other two from Poland and Germany. They standby as they wait for their moment to walk into the camera spotlight.
"Seth! We’re going live in three, two, one…” Luis counts down before hitting the record button.
"What is up Mil-Simmers! Welcome to Seth Tactical! Today we are here on location at one of NATO’s most critical bases of operation in Europe in Ramstein United Base. For those who had seen our previous match against our opponents in the first bracket, many of you all were surprised to see us working alongside some pretty tough looking dudes. As some of you may had heard, we are partnering with The NATO armed forces for this fall’s tournament in Mil-Sim Story, bringing on a new wave of professionalism and combat opportunities into the gaming sphere. Because of the nature of their work, these men have to keep their identities confidential as they work alongside us and we want to keep our part of the bargain by respecting their privacy. Please welcome our guests for today’s show, Lion Squad!”
The four special forces operators walk from behind the couch and sit on the couch, next to Seth. “It’s an honor to be here.” The American Operator speaks with a deep masculine voice.
"So you all are the real deal?” Seth speaks to the soldiers next to him. “I bet a lot of our fans who are watching right now are curious about how you all felt in your first foray into Mil-Sim Story’s virtual combat space.”
"Well, I have to say it feels quite realistic.” The British soldier speaks in a distinct accent. “Were it not for the exclusion of the real violence, environment strains you experience in real combat, and the lack of basic human needs, I’d say it’s on par with the real deal.”
"It was quite unexpected to see our real life tactics play out exactly as we would had executed in our operations.” The German soldier interjects. “It almost seems like a disadvantage to the other team who didn’t have the same military experience as us.”
"The only thing I wish the game had was a mandatory tea break.” The British soldier joked, receiving some laughs from the crew on set.
"Ha. Well I bet that’s something for the devs of Mil-Sim Story to implement in their next update.” Seth then looks directly at the camera. “You hear that developers. Try to spice things up with some extra realism for the next update. Add some environmental factors, hydration mechanics, and especially the tea breaks. It would make my partners’ day here if you could at that.” He finishes breaking the fourth wall to return to interviewing Lion Squad. “You mentioned your drills feeling the same. Care to give us an example of something you’ve pulled straight from the battlefield into the game?”
The Polish soldier answers his question with a direct but quiet tone. “As your squad and many of those who saw the online broadcast of our match in the tournament, we ran a quick joint raid on an enemy stronghold in the hill side of the mad. We deployed from our helicopters, breached their fortress through a detonation on the structure, and we cleared every single room in that enemy stronghold in under ninety seconds with no casualties.”
"You hear that Mil-Simmers?” Seth speaks to the livestream. “Ninety seconds. Now that’s my kind of time limit. When you are engaging in close quarters combat, you don’t have time to mess around and figure out who’s going to break what? You go in, and do what you are trained to do from the moment you step foot onto the combat zone.”
"You have to be quick when it comes to fighting in close quarters.” The American soldier advises. “You never know if you might face reinforcements the longer you take to clear a room. In our case, many of us served in the NATO-Iranian War from 10 years ago. Sometimes the Iranians would rig the rooms we would clear with timed explosives and we had to be extra cautious with hostages. A second too late and everyone would had been blown to bits. In that case, it’s not about being competitive. You have to give your 110% because making a mistake is fatal.”
"Is this the kind of mindset you guys had when we were playing our first match together?” Seth asks.
"We liked to pretend we did.” The British soldier jokes. “But since we are doing this in virtual reality, it’s not like we could help ourselves from realizing that messing up in the game won’t result in us seeing the big man in the sky….or down bellow depending on how our allies or enemies view us.” He laughs full hearty.
"It’s good to know you guys don’t suffer from the PTSD like most soldiers do.” Seth comments.
"We’re NATO’s finest.” The Polish guy mentions. “We do this for a living. It’s part of our lives, and the whole western world relies on soldiers like us to protect them.”
"We take our training seriously and we put our nations and our mission object over our well being.” The German soldier also adds.
"Sounds honorable, Gentlemen.” Seth says as he looks over to the camera to segue into his promotional advert which he has been instructed to present to his audience. “You see Mil-Simmers. Learning and applying all of these tactics in-game isn’t entirely useless. Some of us are competing in this tournament to get something out of the hard work and dedication we give to achieve victory and the grand prize. But what if I were to tell you that winning this tournament isn’t the only way you can implement all that you learn from playing the game. Heck. Even some the skills we teach you here on Seth Tactical. And before you ask, you all should disable your sponsor block for what I’m about to tell you so listen up. What if you took your Mil-Simming gaming to the next level? Well my fellow Mil-Simmers, I have just the answer to that. Our sponsors over at NATO had given Raptor Squad a once in a life time opportunity to work alongside some of the best armed forces members that are defending our very way of life and freedom. The NATO Combined Forces isn’t some secret members only club for those with connections. Many of my friends in Lion Squad would had been boys and girls just like you. NATO is always looking for new applicants who want to serve their nations and the coalition as a whole. You don’t need a college degree to apply either. They are open to inviting you into the armed forces and training you from the ground up to be the very best version of yourself. You get to experience everything you can do in Mil-Sim Story but in real life, you get some nice benefits here and there, and you can even get stationed at exotic locations like here at Ramstein United Base. If you sign up and register for the NATO armed forces, if you use the code “Seth Tactical” when you enlist on their website, you can receive and additional monetary bonus of up to $10,000 (or your country’s equivalent) just for signing up! Isn't’ that crazy! But the bonuses won’t stop there. “Sign up between this Fall until the end of December and you will also receive an additional 200,000 credits for Mil-Sim Story. You can buy a whole virtual arsenal with that kind of money! Wowzers! Makes me wish I would have the time to enlist!” Imagine learning from the very best, like the fine gentlemen here with me today, and taking part in something bigger than yourself. Remember, Mil-Simmers, this offer is only available for a limited time. So, if you’ve ever considered turning your passion for Mil-Sim into a real-world calling, now’s your chance. You can find more details in the link pinned in the chat or in the description below this stream.” The stream chat floods with reactions ranging from excitement to skepticism, some praising the partnership while others question its motives.
Seth smiles as he sets the Mountain Dew down on the table in front of him. "Ready to talk about weapons?” He laughs nervously as he looks down at the Mountain Dew. “You guys want a Mountain Dew break? It’s the official gamers’ drink of choice after all!”
"No thanks. We’re good brother.” The American soldier declines.
"Ha! Perfect! More for me after the stream. So anyways, a lot of our viewers were intrigued by the weapons you were using in our match a few weeks ago. Do you want to explain your choice for the weapons you used?”
"Certainly! In fact…” The German soldier motions over to the intern standing in the studio to bring him a crate to set in front of the crew. “We brought a few of them right here.” He pries open the crate with his bare hands and pulls out a SIG XM7 rifle from the crate, wowing the crew on set. “For anyone familiar with NATO’s arsenal, this is our current service rifle for the armed forces. This is the XM7 Assault Rifle, chambered in the new 6.8x51mm round. We ran something like this in the war so we figured we’d use it in Mil-Sim Story. Here. Try holding it, Seth!” The German hands the rifle over to Seth who nearly drops it with his skinny arms.
"Gosh! This thing is really heavy!” Seth grunts while he holds the rifle. “Feels like a real solid piece of weaponry. This is what’s replaced the typical AR rifles like the HK416 and KS-1 in the military?”
"Partially, we are still rolling them out as we speak.” The Polish soldier answers. “The new round is capable of penetrating Russian and Chinese armor better than our old 5.56 rifles. We even have a light machine gun which uses the same round. Those certainly did a number on those Iranians.
"Cool, you think we can try shooting this rifle in a future stream sometime? In real life?” Seth asks enthusiastically even though he can barely hold the rifle up on his lap.
"Not in Germany, I’m afraid. Civilians need special clearance.” The British soldier mentions as the German soldier takes the rifle back and puts into the crate.”
"We’ll have to arrange that with our sponsors. That would be a cool video to make.” Seth closes the stream with the following: “And that about raps up this stream, Mil-Simmers. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, and follow us on social media. Be sure to watch the Mil-Sim Story Official Live Streams in two weeks from now when all of these matches will be going on. Go ahead and tell us who you think is going to win the Fall Tournament this year. Remember Mil-Simmers. Fancy gear and weaponry will only get you so far, but it’s crucial that you keep on training. If you want to take your training to the next level, remember to consider our offer with the NATO armed forces so you can take your skills to the next level, have a can of Mountain Dew to refresh you after a long day of Mil-Simming and remember….Stay frosty, friends!”
"Cut! That’s the stream!” Luis lowers the camera. “Good work, everyone! That went smoothly.”
"For Christ Sake, I thought that would never end.” The British soldier jokes. “I gotta look for the bathroom. I have to take a piss.” He gets up along with the other professional soldiers who make their leave from the studio.
"How many viewers did we have for this stream?” Seth asks Courtney.
"900,000 more or less.” She states as she looks at the view count on her tablet. “That’s kind of standard for our streams.”
"And our ratio?”
"Our what...Seth?” Courtney tilts her head in confusion.
"Seth, they disabled Likes and Dislikes years ago.” Bibi sighs. “Especially on the big channels like ours.”
"Oh...and what are people saying on our various social media accounts?”
"Just hang on a second, Seth. The wifi service here is awful.” Courtney opens up various social media apps on her tablet, going through the comments and shares from their announcement of their livestream. We’re trending pretty good so far. A lot of positive feedback from our users.”
"That’s great!” Seth smiles widely. “Although it’s to be expected. They love us. How about Clover?”
"Clover? You mean that obscure image board? Seth you can’t be serious.”
"Courtney has a point.” Luis speaks up. “The anonymous users on there never really have good things to say about us. They accuse of being sell outs and try hards.”
"Ah...that’s just typical jealousy. I’m sure we left an impression on them with this livestream. All of our feedback has been reality positive from everyone else.”
"Don’t say I warned you.” Courtney opens up her web browser to look up the image board online as Clover does not have an application. She goes specifically to the /VR/ board and looks for the Mil-Sim Story General. “Okaaaay...let’s see….hm….yeah...it’s just what I expected….oh my God!” Courtney’s eyes light up and within a few seconds she’s uncontrollably laughing.
"Huh? What is it, Courtney?” Seth looks curiously and concerned at Courtney’s uncontrollable laughter. Luis and Bibi come over to see her tablet.
"Oh man….you’re not going to like this.” Luis says nervously. Bibi does her best to hold in her laugh behind her mouth.
"What….what did they do?” Seth finally comes over to see Courtney’s Tablet. The typical comments on that thread were the usual; accusing Raptor Squad of being try hard sell out with a ego problem but towards the bottom of the thread, someone posted a meme about Seth and his livestream today. It’s an image of Seth, on a couch sitting cross legged as the soldiers of Lion squad stand behind the couch, with their ski masks on and photo-shopped on people wearing white boxers and t-shirts as they stand behind Seth looking down at him on the couch. The post with the image has dozens of replies. Seth’s normally aloof personality shifts to complete rage as his face turns bright red.
"Courtney! Give me that tablet! NOW!” Courtney can’t stop laughing as Seth takes the tablet and starts tapping away on the tablet, doing his best to derail the thread about him by calling everyone on that image board virgin losers with no gamer skills.
"Man, that was really low." Luis comments.
"Aw come on, that was pretty genius!" Bibi smirks and chuckles. "I'm gonna to save it in my phone. Give me the thread."