A guy of Italian and Japanese descent adjusts the zoom on his variable scope. He has a clear view of the center passageway between the catwalk on the left and the Mosque on the right through a mid doorway partially open. He's familiar with this map as well as the rest of his teammates. It's a fairly recognizable map from a once-popular old school video game. It's a small urban desert environment with many pathways in an otherwise simple but competitive map. He is positioned on the right side of the entrance that leads to the opposite end of the map. On his right side is one of the bombsites he has to defend Bombsite B. He adjusts his zoom on his scope and pulls the charging handle back, loading a full size cartridge into the chamber of his FN FAL battle rifle. He scoots back and adjusts his beret and looks to his left. A Hispanic guy armed with a Remington 870 pump action stands at the exit of the mosque. On Tomio's left, past spawn and a gate is an underpass right under a catwalk that leads to the other bombsite, currently defended by his two female teammates.
"Fio. Any word of who our opponents are going to be?" He calls through his comms on his earpiece.
Fio glances at her in-game tablet. It's protected by a rigid case and a scratch resistant touch screen. It shows a GPS representation of the map they are playing in and the locations of the motion sensors around Bombsite A and B which she placed earlier. She opens her tab to the scoreboard, which shows her team's stats as well as the enemy team's but does not give any details other than the region and number of players. She brushes her long blonde hair away from her face to get a better view of her tablet. "They appear to be from the same region. Probably from another town or city. No clue if they are going to be FNGs or one of those experienced teams."
"If we stick to our defensive plan, they shouldn't give us any trouble. As long as we have all of the flanks covered, they'll have a hard time getting anywhere close to our bombsites."
"R... right!" Fio checks her P90 and makes sure it's loaded. She pats her holster which holds a fairly new 9mm pistol called the "Alien" from Laugo Arms. It's equipped with a pistol red dot sight. She camps herself behind some boxes guarding the left bombsite objective known as Bombsite A.
"Ramirez. Make sure they don't make it out of the mosque or get to the tunnels to the central alleyway. If you see them, give them a warm welcome." Tomio instructs the Hispanic guy on his right side.
"Yeah. I got it." He says in a cold and muffled tone through his shemagh covering his lower face as he loads 6 shells of "Dragon's Breath", pumps the action, and loads one more giving him full capacity at the ready.
"Kimberly, you have point on the left flank?"
"Yep. I'm here already Tomio." Kimberly adjust her glasses as she lays in a pit overlooking a long narrow pathway leading towards the ramp that leads to Bombsite A. She takes out her MAT-49 sub machine from her backpack, deploys the magazine well, retracts the wire stock and loads a 35 round magazine chambered in the same caliber as her TT33 Tokarev pistol. She grabs a flash-bang grenade, ready to deploy when she expects company. As she waits, she hums a melody from an indie-rock song she did a cover for.
"Everyone's in position? Good. I'll look out from spawn towards the center alleyway. I'll be the first to spot them but I'll hold my fire. Chances are, they're going to split and attempt both objectives. We must eliminate them before they can reach any of the bombsites. If you lose ground, call me on comms and I'll fill the gaps." Tomio gets behind cover and aims down his scope.
"Tomio! They're about to spawn in!" Fio calls through her comms. "Get ready Longhorn Squad, let’s show them how we fight!"
Emi, Chiara, Hikari, and Mai spawn into the map. They are behind a housing complex and have two leading paths left and right of where they spawned. "Recognize this place Emi?" Mai says as she takes out her own rugged tablet and opens the map view.
"Yeah... yeah I've played on this map in another game before," Emi notes as she looks around the spawn area. “It’s very familiar.”
"Nice. Everyone else, gather round me." Chiara and Hikari look over Mai's shoulder as she shows them the map of this area. "We are the attacking team. Our objective is to arm a bomb at Bombsite A on our right or Bombsite B on our left. Either that, or we could try to eliminate their entire team, but they'll have the defensive advantage. It's going to be 4v4 so we'll have to make do with what we have."
Mai draws a red path leading down a route to Bombsite B and then draws a path in blue to Bombsite A. "Here's what we're going to do, I've played this map a ton. Chiara. Hikari. You will both take this path to Bombsite B. There's a lot of close quarter areas leading up to that objective. Especially in the mosque. Clear the tunnel on your right when you are inside the mosque but do not leave the tunnel. At least don't attempt to cross to the catwalk. Chiara, your MP5 will be better suited to close combat. I'm sending Hikari with you because I don't believe she'll be any accurate with her fancy rifle."
"You little...." Hikari growls under her breath.
"Relax Hikari. Your fancy two round burst will probably give you an edge in CQB or whatever. Emi and I will take the path to Bombsite A. Emi, you'll take the catwalk to our left when we reach the wrecked car. Watch out for that opening in the mid door on your left. Campers like to snipe the catwalk from there. Take the stairs and you'll eventually run into whoever is defending Bombsite A. I'll take the long path on the far right. My Type 56 SKS will give me a range advantage in case anyone is defending the ramp to Bombsite A."
"One last thing," Mai remarks as she points to the center path between the Mosque and the cat walk. "Under no circumstances should anybody go through the middle door or expose yourself in that path. We call that the suicide path for a reason. The camper at the enemy spawn will see you coming. In fact, Emi and I are probably going to get spotted right away. It's a given so we'll have to move fast. Understood?"
Emi, Hikari, and Chiara nod in unison.
"Um... Mai?" Chiara asks in a quiet tone. "Do we have a team name?"
"Hm... shoot... I can't believe we didn't come up with one while we were in the gun shop." Mai scratches the top of her head as she tries to think of a name in a hurry.
As Mai tries to think of a team name, Emi notices a little Armadillo logo on the background of the Texas flag engraved on the top receiver of her M4A1. "What about Armadillo Squad?" Emi suggests. "Armadillos are kind of cute."
"And lazy just like Mai," Hikari adds, smirking at Mai.
"You best be glad friendly fire is turned on right now..." Mai mutters under her breath. "But yeah... I think Armadillo Squad is a good name. All agree?"
Everyone nods. "Perfect. Armadillo Squad. Lock and Load. Let's do this!"
The girls split up into two groups and take their separate paths. Hikari and Chiara move down the slope leading down to the mosque and tunnels. They brace against the wall on the left side of the entrance, preparing to go in. "I should take lead Chiara. My two round burst will probably overpower anyone inside," Hikari says.
"Are you sure about going first Hikari?" Chiara asks nervously. "Mai... Emi... how are you two doing?"
"No contact yet," Mai calls over her comms. Emi and Mai keep their heads down as they reach the point where they will split up. "Alright Emi," Mai says, looking towards the path to the catwalk. "Keep your head real low. I wouldn't want to have that sniper hittin' that fluffy hair of yours."
"Ha. Got it Mai." Emi chuckles as she receives the signal to move from Mai. Mai heads right taking cover and aiming her SKS through the small openings of the doors and hallway leading towards the right lane of the map. Emi moves her fire selector into full auto mode as she expects to run into someone past the catwalk as she crawls towards the entry.
Meanwhile on the left flank, Hikari positions herself in front of Chiara. She gives a countdown with her fingers. "3, 2, 1, GO!" Hikari turns the corner into the doorway, finger on the trigger and aiming her AN-94 ready to fire. Just before Chiara could follow Hikari into the mosque, "BANG!" Chiara sees a bright spark coming from inside the mosque before she sees Hikari running out with her sleeve on fire. "FIRE! FIRE!!! I'M ON FIRE!" She drops down onto the sand outside of the mosque and rolls over the ground to put out the fire on her sleeve, dropping her AN-94 on the sandy ground as she rolls on the ground.
"Hikari!" Chiara shouts. She takes her MP5SD6 and blindly aims it through the doorway, suppressing fire into the mosque where the shooter supposedly was camping without exposing her entire body. The enemy inside fires another blast, setting some of the cover inside on fire and sparking the entire room. Chiara quickly pulls her SMG out of the doorway and stops firing. She looks at Hikari who thankfully managed to put out the fire on her sleeve which has been burned off.
"Hikari! Are you hurt?" Chiara cried out as she keeps her eye on the entrance of the mosque, hoping the enemy inside won't try to hunt them outside.
"It's all a simulation. I'm fine. But my battle fatigues are ruined! That bastard will pay for that!" Hikari snarls as she grabs her AN-94 from the ground, charges the bolt, and attempts to go in again. She jumps out from the doorway and aims her rifle at the enemy holding a pump action shotgun which she has clear sight of. The entire room is lit with burning box covers. "Eat this!" She pulls the trigger and feels resistance. "H...Huh?!" She notices the bolt on her gun not closed and her trigger feels extremely gritty. "No no no no no!" She cries as she quickly jumps outside the entrance as the enemy fires another blast of 12 gauge "Dragon's Breath" at her but misses when she jumps out of the entrance. He dashes towards the entrance. He sees Hikari on the floor with her jammed rifle. He pumps his shotgun, ready to eliminate Hikari on the spot when Chiara fires her MP5SD6 into the enemy player from the side, emptying her entire magazine. He drops his shotgun and falls to the ground like a rag doll. Hikari is still catching her breath on the floor. "Chiara... t-thanks... you saved me." She gets up from the ground grabbing her rifle and starts cursing it while she beats it on the ground.
Chiara sighs as she takes a seat at the edge of the doorway, catching her breath. Her physical energy feels exhausted despite being in VR. She slowly puts the empty mag into her chest rig and loads a new magazine. She looks at the "corpse" of the man who she just shot. There's no blood or any indication that she shot him other than the little red bullet holes behind his plate carrier. She thinks to herself how unusual it is that there's no graphic violence in this sim but then again, Mil-Sim Story was advertised to a wide audience.
"Worthless piece of crap. Why the hell did it jam up on me?" Hikari continued to curse her rifle as she attempts to rack the bolt, unable to get it unjammed.
"What's going on over there?!" Emi calls through her comms.
"Emi! We took out one of their teammates but Hikari's AN-94 is jammed."
Mai can be heard chuckling in the radio chatter as she listens to Hikari swearing incomprehensibly.
"Urusai!" Hikari yells through the comms as she tosses her rifle aside and pulls out her SIG P320. "Forget it. Let's keep going Chiara."
”So much for your fancy rifle.” Mai teases through her radio.
”I told you. Shut up!” Hikari snaps over the radio. “You’ll have to take the lead Chiara. I’ll cover you.”
"R... Right." Chiara and Hikari clear the mosque and the tunnel without running into any combatants. The entire area is lit from the burning debris and cover. Dust particles fill the air that thankfully, Hikari and Chiara aren't able to react to. "Mosque... tunnels... all clear." Chiara calls over the comms. "Should we go straight for Bombsite B already?"
"No. Not yet." Mai alerts. "There's certainly a camper there. Plus we got three other hostiles left. Emi and I are going make our move on Bombsite A."
Emi carefully makes her way up the catwalk. "BANG!" A shot brushes past Emi's head as she instinctively ducks onto the floor. "I-I've been spotted! There's a shooter taking shots from the doorway in the mid-section!" Emi calls over the comms while trying to maintain her composure. It was a close call.
"Emi! Keep your head down," Mai orders as she exits the hall of doors leading to the right passage way. "Chiara, Hikari, head to Bombsite B and take out that..."
"BANG!" A white flash blinds Mai causing her to blindly fire her SKS. A high pitch ring distorts her hearing. "I'VE BEEN FLASHED! I CAN’T SEE!"
The other girls can hear Mai firing her SKS over their comms. "Mai! What's going on?! What do you mean flashed!?" Emi calls while still taking fire from the marksman. A burst of automatic fire is heard through the comms. "Mai! Are you alright?! Mai!" There is no response from Mai.
"Dammit!" cries Emi as a spray of bullets chips at her cover. She grips onto her M4A1 as she tries to come up with a new plan now that their squad leader is gone. "Chiara....Hikari...we lost Mai."
"Mai..." Hikari's shift in tone is now one of concern as she listens in on the comms. Chiara looks just as nervous as she bunkers down in the Mosque with Hikari.
"We have to take out that marksman! Chiara, Hikari, move to Bombsite B as we planned but look out for that marksman. I'm going to try to draw his fire. On my signal, when you hear me fire back, get to the bombsite as fast as you can." Emi takes her M4A1, gripping it tightly as she prepares to expose herself to draw more fire from the marksman. She takes a deep breath, and gets up from the floor and opens fire. Hikari and Chiara hear Emi's M4A1 firing and use that signal to rush out of the mosque. They dash through a narrow hallway and get a sight of Bombsite B in clear view.
Emi immediately receives return fire from the marksman after exposing herself from cover so she hunkers down on the ground again. She's still in the game and sighs in relief for a brief moment before suddenly seeing a girl with thick frame glasses coming up from behind from where Mai and Emi originally split up. She has a MAT 49 sub-machinegun and takes aim at Emi. Emi, still on the ground, grabs her M4A1 and opens fire from her position at the girl behind her. A burst of shots can be heard from both of them."Emi!" Chiara calls out over the comms.
Emi watches as the girl with the MAT 49 falls weightless on the floor. She notices that she has a hole on her right arm sleeve. She doesn't feel any pain or see any blood but her right arm doesn't seem to move as easily as her left arm. Her HUD indicates she's been injured on the arm as it flashes red. "I'm fine. I've been hit... but I'm fine. I was ambushed from behind."
Chiara gulps, realizing their situation. Nothing is going as planned but they have to keep going. Hikari grips her P320 tighter before exiting the mosque now in the area approximately in Bombsite B. Chiara follows suit behind Hikari as they attempt to find the marksman. They suddenly receive a burst of automatic fire. A girl with long blonde hair fires upon the girls from behind a door overlooking Bombsite B. She's wielding a FN P90 and manages to hit Chiara, taking her out instantly from a reasonable distance before running off. Hikari panics and hides behind cover. "Emi! Emi! Chiara's gone!"
Chiara opens her eyes. She had just witnessed a state of complete blackout. Once she regained her consciousness, she realized she was now in some kind of lounge room in a penthouse skyscraper with glass windows overlooking what appeared to be a cityscape of Kuala Lumpur. She can see the Petronas Towers quite easily shining brightly against the night sky. She hears a familiar voice right next to her. "Welcome to the afterlife, Chiara."
Chiara turns and sees Mai relaxing on a couch, she's still in her combat fatigues but she doesn't have her SKS. There are two others in the penthouse too. One is a girl with thick framed glasses, similar height to herself, light brown hair with a black neck collar, her ear has some piercings. She appears to be a bit older than her. The other is the guy who had the shotgun that she shot earlier. He's Hispanic, with long black hair, has a little stubble on his chin, and is as tall as Emi. He's sitting on the couch next to the hipster girl across from Mai as they all watch a flat screen TV showing the match they were in. It's still going on in real time. She can see Hikari, Emi, the blonde girl with the P90 and the marksman who is repositioning himself at Bombsite B. "What is this place?" Chiara asks Mai.
"Like I said. This is the afterlife, or I suppose you can call it the post game hangout. Since we were eliminated, we get to hang out here early." Mai explains as she pats a spot on the couch next to her for Chiara to sit. "Make yourself comfortable. We're also joined by our good friends here from the opposition."
The girl with the glasses gives Chiara a nod and a smirk. “Wazzup! Surprised to see us again at last? I'm Kimberly. You can call me Kim if you like. I'm the one who took out Mai with my flash bang and MAT-49. This is Ramirez. He's the breacher you took out at the mosque when your friend's rifle jammed up."
Ramirez gives a slight nod but remains silent, his expression serious as he watches the match on the screen. Chiara blinks, confused about the situation. It’s odd to be sitting here casually with the very people she was just fighting, but the relaxed atmosphere in the penthouse makes it easier to accept.
"I'm Chiara. Pleased to meet you both. Oh and uh...sorry about shooting you in back Ramirez. I was just trying to protect my friend Hikari."
Ramirez finally glances over at Chiara, his stoic expression softening slightly. “It’s just part of the game.” he replies calmly in a deep voice. “You did what you had to do.”
"Yep." Mai interjects. "It is a Mil-Sim after all. We all gotta shoot people anyways, but it's all in good fun... and for competitive bragging rights... which I shouldn't even be talking about. I didn't even take out anyone. How embarrassing. And I was supposed to be the experienced one," Mai admits, shamefaced, but then nudges Chiara playfully. "But that's just how it is. Sometimes things don't go as planned. In the end, we'll all end up here in the afterlife, once as enemies, now as good friends."
"It almost sounds like you're saying something deep about life, Mai," Kimberly jokingly suggests.
Mai shrugs and smirks to herself. "Maybe I am. Or maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better about getting flashed and knocked out before I could even kill anyone.
Chiara smiles as they all start to ease up. "This is all so new to me to be honest. I mean...before getting into this game...the only friend I ever knew was Emi." She looks at the flat screen where Emi is still in the match, getting up from the ground holding her M4A1 with a limp in her arm. "Emi..."
Mai, Kimberly, and Ramirez all notice Chiara's change in tone."Emi’s always been like the big sister I never had, ever since we first met back in high school. I'm... I'm not so good around others. I’d get so nervous around people that I could barely speak in class. But Emi... she protected me... and now we're both in college... and here..."
Ramirez unexpectedly pitches in. "Sounds like Emi’s a solid friend. It’s not easy to find someone who will stand by you like that. You’re lucky to have someone like her."
Chiara nods, her gaze fixed on the flat screen where Emi is still in the match. "Well, you're right about that... but I am a bit sad seeing her alone on screen. It’s hard knowing she’s out there struggling while I’m just sitting here. I wish I could be there to help her."
"It's a Mil-Sim silly!" Kimberly mentions in a light hearted tone. "It's just part of the challenge. Besides, you did pretty good this match. If Fio hadn't taken you out with her P90, you probably could've held your own the whole match."
"You really think so?" Chiara asks, warm with appreciation, something she usually never gets.
"Totally! I mean, I saw the replay when you took out Rami. That's not something a newbie would pull off so easily."
"Thank you Kimberly. It means a lot that you think I did pretty good."
"You performed better 'n I did." Mai added. "Honestly, I don't think the squad leader role is my kind of thing ya know."
"But you're our most experienced player in our group..."
"That may be Chiara, but I suck at leading people around. I'm probably the reason why things went so haywire."
"Mai! Don't say that!"
"Hey, it's the truth. I never really was the leadership type. I just like getting into action and causing trouble, tinkering, and all that good stuff. My passion is engineering after all and it's just like Hikari had told me. Engineering students are in-sufferable."
"You two both go to Uni?" Kimberly asked as she looks at Mai and Chiara.
"Yeah. We're both freshmen actually," Mai responds. "My major is mechanical engineering while Chiara here is a music major."
"You're a music major?!" said Kimberly with a sudden burst of excitement in her voice. "No kidding! Another musician? What do you play, Chiara?"
"P-Piano... I play the piano... but I want to be a music teacher."
Kimberly sighs and then she nods her head. "That's pretty good I guess. I tried the whole Uni thing myself but I ended up dropping out years ago. I couldn't handle being a music major when I can, you know, just... go out there, and sing, and play."
"And I play guitar," Ramirez adds. "But I also stack boxes." Kimberly laughs at the dry delivery of that line.
"Oh yeah, you sure do."
Mai watches the screen and notices the marksman taking up position at his new spot at Bombsite A. "So what about the guy with the FN FAL? Who is he?"
"Oh that's Tomio, our squad leader. He has a family-run pizzeria outside of the game. You girls should come hang out with us there sometime, if you have the time and means to travel out of town. I'll give you the address after the match."
"Thanks Kimberly. We'll consider the offer. Is the pizza comped?" Mai asks.
"Not sure." Ramirez answers bluntly.
"Aw... that's okay, I'll make Hikari pay for our meal anyways if it isn’t." Mai chuckles to herself. “She can easily afford it.”
Everyone now has their eyes glued on the flat screen as they watch the remaining players duke it out on screen. At this point, anything goes.
"Tomio! We got a breach at Bombsite B! She's got a pistol!"
"Fio, calm down. It's us against two and we still have the defensive advantage. I can't help you out right now. I'm picking up movement close to Bombsite A. They took out Kim."
"If we keep standing around, won't they start arming one of the bombs?"
"Not if we can draw them in. I'll be camping at Bombsite A. I need you keep that enemy with the pistol away from Site B. If she's still in the mosque, she won't attempt to run for site B if you use suppressing fire. Once we see the motion censor clear for that area, quickly move to Bombsite A and defend it at all costs."
"Ah....I'll do what I can Tomio. I think I see her peeking the Mosque."
"Not on my watch!"
Emi is still hunkered down as she takes fire from the marksman. Those full size caliber rounds are making strong impacts on the wall behind her. Emi can barely move her right arm. It's almost slow to bend, making it difficult for her to get up, as if the incoming fire wasn't bad enough.
”Everything is so disorienting...what's going on?” Emi thinks to herself. “I...I feel so powerless...I...I don't want to fail again. Not like this...so pathetically. Chiara...I...I let her down.”
"Emi! Emi!"
Hikari yells over the comms."Emi. We're the only ones left in our team? What do we do now?"
Emi finally gets her focus back. "I...I don't know Hikari. Are you at Bombsite B already?"
"Barely. I can't leave the mosque. Someone is defending the bombsite. I can barely peek out of cover." Emi can hear bursts of fire as Hikari speaks. "All I have is my pistol. I'm totally out-gunned right now."
"Change of plans... I guess I'm giving orders now," Emi sighs. "Hikari, we're going to retreat back to spawn. I think the enemy is expecting us to head for the bombsites. We're not going to give them an easy victory. We're going to make our last stand."
"Emi... if that's our only choice... I guess we have no choice. Understood. I'll see you at spawn." Hikari fires her pistol blindly out of the mosque one last time and runs back inside, making her way back to where she started.
"They... they aren't attacking?" Fio scoffs as she peaks from the cover of the door looking into Bombsite B. "Are they repositioning to attack A?"
"I don't see any movement at Bombsite A. I'm afraid they caught onto our little game. They know we have the area bugged with sensors." Tomio sighs as he sets his LVPO variable scope on his FN FAL back to 1X magnification. He checks his rugged tablet one last time and then calls Fio over comms.
"We're going to hunt them down Fio."
"But Tomio! The Bombsites will be undefended!"
"We don't have a choice. If we wait here for too long, the match will end in a draw. They want us to look for them at their spawn where we can't bug them with sensors. But they won’t have anywhere to go if we go on the offense. It’s our best chance."
Emi manages to make her way back to the spawn point. She has her rifle supported with her sling, barely able to cling on with her right arm and supported with her left hand as she leans up against the wall. She keeps her M4A1 at the hip, ready to fire in case someone else shows up. She eases up a little as she Hikari takes cover right beside her. "Hikari... good to see you again. This is bad... really bad."
"They got you pretty good didn't they?"
"Yeah... I'm afraid so. And I appear to be bleeding out too... my vision is starting to blur around the edges."
Hikari looks at the hole on Emi's arm. Although there is no blood, there is a visual indication of where she had been shot. The area is highlighted in a red color. She wonders if she could do something about this. "Emi... let me try this really quick."
Hikari takes off her burnt tunic, keeping her tank top fatigues underneath as she gently lifts the sleeve on Emi's arm and wraps her tunic around her wound and making a tight knot around it to stop the bleeding. "Is... is this helping Emi?"
Emi's vision is stabilized, no longer pulsating red but still not entirely clear. "Yeah. I'm feeling a lot better now. Thanks." She still can't fully move her arm as freely but it does help her hold her rifle up at her waistline. "I don't know if they're coming for us, but we should hold out here. We're not going to get to either bombsite without alerting them. They have their entire side of the map rigged with motion sensors."
"Did those bastards really? Isn't that cheating?""Yeah, I saw while I was ducking under cover from fire. The corner of the catwalk had one on the edge. I don't think it's cheating, since they were only placed on their defense, but it still hindered us pretty badly. At least if we stay at our spawn point and try to defend our left and right flank, we might have a chance of taking them out."
"If that's our plan to end this game... so be it," Hikari notes as she readies her SIG P320. "I'll cover the ramp leading up from the mosque and tunnels on the left."
"I'll cover the right side. Hikari. It's just the two of us now. Let's show them what we got."
"Right! I believe in you Emi. More than Mai, that's for sure." Hikari runs off to the left side and takes cover behind a wrecked car overlooking the ramp leading down to the mosque where Chiara took out the shotgunner. She readies her pistol at the low as she crouches down behind the car and waits for any signs of movement. Emi hides on the right side behind the wall overlooking the center of the map through the suicide path. Emi hopes that the enemy will be naive enough to attack where she can open fire the moment she spots them. She lays low on the ground as Hikari does and waits patiently. It's awfully quiet and neither of the girls know what to expect.
"I can't believe they took out Ramirez," Fio mutters as she observes his rag doll on the floor. The mosque's interior is lit with the blaze started by the firefight from earlier. She holds her P90 at the lready and looks left and right. "No sign of the enemy, Tomio."
"Same here." Tomio patrols through the catwalk trying to determine how the enemy could have escaped. He can see Kimberly's rag doll from where she fell over after being shot from her failed ambush. "They're probably waiting at their spawn. We're going to have to assault together, so keep your trigger finger ready and your eyes open. Check anywhere they might be taking cover."
"Copy that Tomio!" Fio shouts over the comms. "I'm going to empty my entire magazine into them! They aren't going to ruin MY kill to death ratio!" Tomio can hear Fio laughing like a maniac over the comms to which he just shakes his head.
"Shh... keep it down. You can laugh and gloat when the match is over. This might be Casual but we still have to work if we want to be taken seriously for the tournament."
"Oh right... sorry Tomio." Fio carefully makes her way up the ramp. She expects someone to be hiding behind the car. She won't even have to wait for them to peek out of cover if she can just shoot through the car. With a goofy smirk on her face, she then dashes up the rest of the ramp and opens fire on the car with her P90. "EAT THIS! AAAAAHAHAHHHAAHAHHAHAH!"
Her bullets puncture the car and create sparks as she fires upon the car in a side to side sweep, making sure to cover the entire length of the car as she empties all 50 rounds of her P90 magazine. "Got you now! Wait...huh?" A girl with black twin ponytails and Japanese features peeks out from behind the front of the car where the engine would be and opens fire on her with her pistol, striking her on the shoulders and chest. Fio tries to reach for her Laugo Alien pistol but she suddenly feels her foot slip over the edge and falls off the side of the ramp, hitting her back on the floor. Her vision is barely in focus as she uses what's left of her energy to draw her pistol, but the last thing she sees is the Japanese girl peeking over the edge and finishing her off with a BANG. Tomio can be heard trying to call her over her comms.
"Emi! I took one down. I did it! I did..."
BANG BANG BANG!
"Hikari!" Emi shouts as she gets up from her position and rushes towards the gunfire. As she heads towards where Hikari was defending, she can see the rag dolls of two girls. One blonde haired skinny girl and the other belonging to Hikari. Up ahead, she finally sees the marksman standing there with his FN FAL as he readies his rifle to take shots at Emi. As she takes fire, Emi ducks for cover and rolls over on her back blindly firing from the prone position at the marksman. The both of them take pot shots at each other but miss. Emi then crawls over back to spawn and lays down on her stomach, waiting for the marksman to make his way up the ramp so she can finish him off. When she sees him make his way up the ramp and turning towards her, she pulls the trigger.
"Click"
The marksman tries to fire his FN FAL at Emi.
"Click"
Both of them are out of ammo for their primary. Emi panics as she attempts to try to reload a new magazine but she has a hard time reaching to her ammo pouch in the prone position and with her injured arm. The marksman quickly tosses his rifle aside and pulls out a Single Action Army Revolver. At this very moment, Emi completely regrets her decision to skip out on a side arm. The marksman points his revolver at Emi and she looks right back, noticing his familiar brown eyes, with facial features mixed between Japanese and European, his wavy black hair stuffed under the beret. She tries but hesitates to pull the trigger as her heart starts to pulse rapidly.
"T-Tomio?"
A loud bang is heard and Emi's vision goes completely white with a loud ringing noise. (Should be black-out for consistency.)
On a nice breezy Christmas Eve night, Emi is holding a piece of paper with the lyrics to a Christmas classic: "Angels We Have Heard On High." Her father is recording with a digital camera in front of her along with her mother who is standing by with some relatives, including those of her best friend as they congregate in a large living room area with red velvet couches, arm chairs, the exotic rug, and vintage brass room lamps. There is a coffee table in the middle with various sweets, cookies, and jello. She's not alone in front of the fireplace and Christmas Tree. Tomio, who is a bit taller than her, is standing there next to her with the same lyrics. The two of them begin to sing as their families watch with adoration (adornment... holiday spirit? Christmas tree?) in their eyes. Emi's voice is nothing to write home about even though she's just a 6th grader. Tomio's voice seems to be very promising as his tenor voice is quite strong even for his age. When the two finish, the family claps and cheers.
"Wonderful. Simply wonderful Tomio!" "You did good Emi!" "You two look so cute together!"
Emi smiles and blushes as she feels a little embarrassed, if not grateful, for all the love and support her family has for her. Once the parents go off to talk among themselves, Emi looks at Tomio who is holding a Christmas gift for Emi.
"Merry Christmas Emi. I brought you a gift, just like always." Tomio offers the gift to Emi which she accepts easily.
"I got you a gift too Tomio." Emi takes out a gift from under the Christmas tree behind her and offers it to Tomio. "To my very best friend."
"Friends for life?" Tomio asks with a soft smile on his face.
Emi nods, returning the friendly smile as they both open their presents together while they sit down in front of the tree. For them, this is just one of many tender moments they had shared since childhood. Emi could not get along with most girls her age. Tomio was all that she had.