Everyone at the fortress is gathering around a barricade which has been set up in the center of the Vampire Squad fortress. They chatter among themselves as they wait for the duel to initiate. Several higher ranking soldiers of Vampire Squad act as crowd control with their iron pikes, keeping the Vampire Soldiers and new recruits away from the sidelines where a stray musket round can fire into. There’s no dire consequences from being hit by a stray round as the recruit would probably just respond but it would make the squad as a whole look unprofessional if such a thing were to happen.
“Word is, Kael is being challenged for his position as squad leader. By one of us!” A female recruit says to another.
“You don’t think it’s Chiara? The one who led us to victory?” Another recruit who was a veteran of the assault on the oil rig against the Raptor Squad recruits. “She’s definitely worthy of being in the elite. I would love to see her overthrow that good for nothing cosplayer.”
“Chiara’s pretty cute, that’s a given.” A male recruit comments. “But I’m just here to see her highness on the balcony.”
“Ha! Keep dreaming! She’s not going to make you her personal footstool anytime soon.” The female recruit snarks at him.
“Look! The counts are approaching!” Everyone kneels as Vlad, Lucius, and Lilith walk in unison before their squad. Lilith is carrying two decorated pistol cases, with engraved gold accents and the insignia of Vampire Squad on the boxes. They approach a table, covered by a red table cloth where Lilith sets the pistol cases onto the table. The three of them then turn to face the headquarters building behind them where all the other recruits and soldiers are also kneeling. They take the hint to stand up and kneel in the other direction where Asura is watching over the balcony.
“You highness, may we proceed?!” Lucius calls from the ground level. Asura nods and raises her hand up to indicate that they can now rise. The soldiers stand up and now face the makeshift dueling area before them. Vlad and Lilith stand aside as Lucius addresses the crowds.
“Brothers and sisters!” He speaks loudly through his respirator using an amplified voice module which he holds in his hand. “Tonight, we gather here to bear witness to a shift in our alliance with the fabled and heroic JarPig Squad and one of our own!” He shifts his hand over towards the one end of the dueling area where Kael and his squad are standing. Some of the soldiers start booing at their squad.
“You filthy cosplaying dorks!” one recruit shouts through the booing.
“Dweebs!” The amount of insults hurled at Kael’s squad are numerous. Rena looks incredibly hurt and uncomfortable receiving all the recruits his negative attention at her squad. She grips onto Kael’s arm, hoping he would protect her somehow even though she is not the one involved in the duel.
“They’re just words, Rena.” Kaz attempts to comfort Rena. “This is Kael’s challenge, not ours.” Trisha watches on with her squad as Kael steps up in front of them.
“Don’t worry, fellas. I got this.” Kael assures his squad before stepping up to the table. He looks over at the heckling crowd who are silenced instantly once Lucius raises his hand to address the crowd as he signals to Vlad to open the door of the armory.
“Bring forth the challenger of this duel. A new sister in our beloved squad, slayer of raptors, and a hunter among prey! Chiara Lorenz!”
Kael’s eyes light up as he hears that name. “Chiara Lorenz? It can’t be. That’s the shy girl from Armadillo Squad! What’s she doing here?” He looks over at the opposite end of his position as the doors of the armory are open and Chiara slowly emerges from the shadows, walking with a strong determination in her movement. Her eyes are slightly covered by the loose bangs on her hair. Her black gothic outfit flows with every step of her boot. The soldiers and recruits look upon her and cheer for her arrival.
“Slay the outsider, Sister!” An enthusiastic recruit cries out in excitement.
“We love you, Sister!” Another recruit shouts. The amount of attention she’s receiving from the crowd is quite the contrast from the welcoming JarPig Squad received. Kael swallows hard as he watches Chiara approach with a presence he never would have associated with the girl. A shy girl, once afraid of their assaults from the Battle of the Dead Mall, now looks upon Kael several feet before him with a stoic but blood thirsty look on her face. She’s intimidating despite being significantly smaller than him. She stops a couple of feet in front of him, next to a table where Lucius and Lilith are standing by.
“Kael Valorheart of JarPig Squad. Your position as squad leader for JarPig Squad is being challenged by our sister Lorenz of Vampire Squad. Her demands are as follows:” Lucius clears his throat before reading a small list from his pocket. “You shall be dismissed from your squad and replaced by the victor of this duel. Your squad will be in procession of her beloved Vampire Squad. Under no circumstances will you be allowed to fight alongside them in future events, battles, or skirmishes until the end of this season’s tournament. Your squad will have to swear loyalty to her highness, to our sister Lorenz, and to our cause. You will be banished from this fortress if you are to lose in this duel.” He lowers his list back into his pocket. “Kael Valorheart, do you accept your opponent's terms of the duel?”
“I accept!” Kael replies sharply, feeling confident in taking on this Armadillo Squad reject. “May I suggest the terms I want in the event that I am to win?”
“You may proceed, Kael Valorheart.” Lucius gives Kael a moment to say his demands.
“If I win,” Kael begins, his voice firm and unwavering, “My opponent will renounce her allegiance to your squad and acknowledge me as the rightful leader of my squad.” He scans the crowd, his blue eyes gleaming under the fortress lights. “Furthermore, Vampire Squad will cease all attempts to forcefully absorb or take over my squad. We will remain independent, free to operate as we always have with or without your interference.” He then looks directly at Asura who is watching over the balcony. “Last but not least, if I am to win this duel, I would like to be in companionship with my beloved Asura. I'll be a respected leader for both my squad and Vampire Squad!”
“So those are your demands? So be it. Chiara Lorenz. Do you accept his terms in the event that he is victorious?”
Chiara doesn’t hesitate to give her answer. With a soft yet cold voice, she answers with a “I accept my opponents' terms.”
Lilith steps forward, her boots clicking sharply against the stone as she raises a single finger, commanding the attention of all present. The crowd, already electric with anticipation, falls into a hush as she explains the duel. “Pistols at ten paces,” she announces, her voice cutting through the air. “Both duelists will begin back to back. At the signal of the fortress’ bell, you will each take ten steps forward. Upon the tenth step, you must halt. When you hear the bell ring again, you will both turn and fire at will.” She gestures with her fingers like a gun. “You’ll both get one shot. If both duelists miss or if neither is incapacitated, I will reload both of your pistols, and you will repeat the process until one of you lands a hit.”
The soldiers nod among themselves as they clearly understand the rules of this contest.
“Furthermore, You may not dodge, flinch, or duck when firing upon your opponent,” Lilith continues, her crimson eyes gleaming beneath her respirator. “Cowardice will not be tolerated. To do so is to disgrace the duel and forfeit instantly.” She then speaks to Kael and Chiara at once. “Do you understand the nature of this contest?” Both Chiara and Kael nod their heads.
“Let us begin! Lilith. Reload their pieces!” With Lucius’ cue, Lilith takes both of their ornate musket pistols and starts the loading process in front of them. This is done in front of them so that they can see there is no foul play involved in this duel. At least externally to Kael. Lilith takes some flint from the cases and installs them on the pistol. She places a small bit of powder in the pans to ensure that both pistols will ignite a spark, before continuing the reloading process.
Kael shifts his weight slightly, his fingers twitching as he watches the process. He has no reason to doubt the integrity of the duel. Somehow, he can’t shake the feeling that this whole affair is stacked against him. He doesn’t see anything suspicious as Lilith goes through the reloading procedure for both of their pistols. Chiara, by contrast, stands still with a firm yet unreadable expression. She knows she’s in this to win. It’s just a matter of not chickening out.
Lilith finishes pouring the last measure of gunpowder and ramming the lead balls into the barrels. With a final, deliberate motion, she cocks both hammers and hands the pistols to their respective duelists. “Challengers, take hold of your pieces!”
Kael and Chiara take a hold of their pistols and inspect them. Kael takes a look at the firing pan but doesn’t see anything that strikes him odd. He’s used plenty of firearms like this in his fantasy MMORPG. It’s not his specialty but he’s familiar and confident in his abilities with using such a weapon. He keeps his pistol up by his side as does Chiara. They glare at each other, waiting for the signal.
A recruit in the fortress’ tower swings a hammer on the bell. “Challengers, about face! At ten paces, half time, walk!” Kael and Chiara turn their backs to each other, pistols in hand. The courtyard is deathly silent, the only sound the faint whistle of the wind against the high stone walls and the footsteps from Kael and Chiara as they take their positions. Kael feels the weight of the moment on him. He’s never felt more nervous in a combat situation but this is one of the most high stakes moments for his online career. Winning this duel against this outcast from Armadillo Squad will bring him power, love, and the respect he always wanted for his squad. He recalls those moments when he used a pistol like the one he wields at this very moment. “This is a duelist pistol. The trigger pull on something like this is going to be very light compared to a standard flintlock pistol. If I pull too hard, my point of aim will be completely off. I must keep this in mind.” He runs these thoughts in his mind, unaware of what’s to become of him.
Chiara stands on the opposite end, facing the very armory from which she emerged from. She’s careful not to touch the trigger of her pistol. She was informed beforehand that the trigger is going to be light where even a single tap on the trigger would be enough to ignite the firing mechanism. Still, even she’s not aware of the modifications done to Kael’s trigger mechanism on his designated pistol.
There is a moment of silence. Kael and Chiara don’t move a single muscle. The soldiers watch without a peep from their mouth. Kael’s friends watch from the sidelines. Kaz looks upon him with his arms crossed. Trisha lets Rena hang onto her for she can clearly see Rena is afraid to watch this duel play out. There’s so much at stake not just for Kael but for their future in Mil-Sim Story.
The silence is only temporary.
“DING!”
“Kael instinctively supports his firing hand with his free hand while shifting his body in a complete 180 degree turn. He lowers his pistol at Chiara who’s aiming right at him. Neither one of them wastes a millisecond when they take aim and pull their triggers.
Pull...pull… “Wait a minute...my trigger...”
A loud crack of fire echoes through the fortress courtyard. Kael stumbles as he feels the force of a .69 caliber lead ball strike him in the torso. His vision goes blurry and everything around him seems to become one big slur of noise and slush. Somewhere in his disorientation, he can hear Rena screaming for him as he takes a limped fall to his knees. His pistol remains unfired.
“No….this can’t be….this can’t be happening.” He mutters to himself. He looks up and sees Lilith walking up to him. She takes his pistol and aims it at the ground. She pulls the trigger and the pistol goes off. “You didn’t even pull the trigger.” She scoffs at him. “Talk about having no nerves. Pathetic.”
“Chiara Lorenz! Wins the competition!” Lucius announces to the crowd which breaks out into cheers. Chiara herself looks upon the pathetic state that she brought upon Kael. She can see the hurt and emotional devastation she brought upon him. In a way, this is an appropriate payback to the defeat his squad brought upon her and Armadillo Squad in the Battle of the Dead Mall. The feeling of putting her enemies in their place sparks a new side of Chiara she’d never felt before. Glee. Her limps form into a smirk as she watches Kael’s squad-mates rush over to their defeated leader. Lucius, along with some armed guards with pikes, approaches Kael. “Your cooperation with our squad is now terminated. You shall be escorted without fanfare.” He says coldly through his respirator. The guards shove his squad mates out of their way and grab Kael by the arms.
“No! I won’t accept this! You can’t do this to me!” Kael cries out in anguish as he is dragged away from his squad. “Asura! You can’t do this to me! ASURA!!!! YOU SNAKE!!!!”
Asura just stands on the balcony of her HQ. She quietly watches with her arms crossed as Kael is dragged out to the front gate of her fortress. She smirks as the guards throw him out of the gate and shut the door on him. “About time I did away with that lice.” Asura happily pondered to herself. “Now…” She looks over to Chiara who is receiving a count’s kneel by the lower ranking soldiers of Vampire Squad. “She’ll be a valuable asset to Vampire Squad. Someone who can work within my frequency. Especially against her former friends. She’ll naturally give my squad access to all the information I need of our opponents defensive strategy.” She rests her hand on her palm as she thinks to herself: “Now... I'm going to keep Chiara temporarily as I’ve done with everyone I made offers to? I’ll have to take into consideration her use after this upcoming match.” Asura continues to eye Asura as she approaches Kael’s former squad mates who are being rounded up by her guards. “Then again, she’s such a cutie. It would be a shame to get rid of her when I’ve got everything I need from her.”
Chiara stood motionless, her pistol still lowered as she stood in front of the remnant of Kael’s JarPig Squad. Lucius stands by her side as he addresses the new terms to them.
“Chiara Lorenz. As Count of Vampire Squad, I now bestow upon you the mantle of commander of this newly acquired unit. What remains of their loyalty, they now pledge to you, Countess Lorenz. Her highness and I expect you to shape them up for next week’s tournament. Soon, we’ll discuss our battle plans before the day of the event. I suggest you start making things clear for your new squad mates, Countess Lorenz.” He bows in respect to Chiara before departing.
“My gratitude, Count Lucius.” She returns the bow before she glares at her new squad which is now under her total control. Kaz does not show anything through his red tinted goggles. He doesn’t seem phased but he certainly feels upset of the outcome their squad has fallen into. Trisha is still holding onto Rena who is balling her eyes onto her shoulder and barely able to stand up right. Their posture and aura are insulting to Chiara’s presence.
She took a step forward. The tension thickened as she barked her first order to her squad: “On your knees.”
Rena whimpered. Trisha shot Chiara a sharp glare but didn’t move. Kaz remained still, his unreadable expression locked on her. This only angered Chiara even more.
“I said, On your knees!”
The guards behind them, shoved the three of them with their pikes onto the floor in front of Chiara. They kept the blunt end of their pikes on their backs to keep them on the ground from standing up.
“You’re lucky I’m taking it easy on you all. Because I can give you something much worse for your utter disrespect you’ve shown to me so far!”
“And what if we refuse to comply?” Kaz finally speaks up firmly to Chiara. “Kael was our party leader. We can’t be JarPig Squad without him.”
“Then you’re more than welcome to join him and forget everything you worked hard for in this tournament!” Chiara snapped back. “I can always replace you with someone more loyal. Someone who would be more than glad to take your spot in this tournament! Would you like to be replaced with one of my brothers and sisters?” Chiara grinned fiendishly at Kaz. She had never thought being the one to intimidate would feel so empowering. For once in her life, Chiara is pushing others around for her own amusement. “That’s what I thought.” Chiara snarled, receiving no further opposition from her new recruits. “I’d expect you all to train like your life depends on it. We have one week before our tournament match, I expect you to be ready by Monday!”
“But, that’s too soon! We can’t just…” Chiara hushes Trisha with a wave of her hand. “I don’t want excuses. We have all Saturday and Sunday to train. And one more thing.” Chiara forces them to kneel down onto the ground with the help of the guards. “For now on, you’ll refer to me as “Your Highness!”
Asura shakes her head and smirks from the balcony. To see Chiara acting so much like her, it’s almost too good to be true. “She’s everything I’d hoped for. The perfect vampire, the perfect squad leader.” Her eyes narrow with a hint of distrust, knowing full well that she might have gone a little overboard with Chiara. “I must not let her overtake my position as Vampire Squad’s leader. This squad is my creation, my legacy. It belongs to me and no one else. Raptor Squad will kiss my boot when this is all over.”
“Your highness.” Asura’s alone time is interrupted by Lucius. He had just left the courtyard and is now up on the balcony with her. “You’re not worried about Kael spreading word of our strategy for the upcoming match?”
“I’m hoping he does.” Asura chuckles to herself. “Because the plans we shared with him while he was in control of his squad were bogus.” She retrieves a piece of paper with a rough sketch of the mansion’s interior with various markers and labels written onto it. “Thanks to Chiara, we have a new course of action for the upcoming match.”
“Stack up! Stack up! Don’t you know what Stack Up means?!” Zander yells through his megaphone at Hikari, Mai, Ashley, and Ramirez who are going through a different kind of kill house training facility. It’s vaguely modeled after the mansion’s various layouts but in the most bare bone way possible with makeshift plywood rooms and not much else. The point of this exercise which Zander has arranged for Longhorn and Armadillo Squad is to help them improve their close quarters capabilities. At another section of the kill house, Fio, Vicky, and Kimberly are acting as defenders. Emi and Tomio are with Zander at the observation post along with Markus who is taking notes of Zander’s high end training facility.
“Team! Get ready to breach!” Ramirez announces to his squad before aiming his shotgun at the door lock. He fires a buckshot, destroying the door lock and Ashley throws a faux flash bang into the room.
“Flash! Look out! Fio cries out to her team, covering their eyes or turning their heads for a few seconds while hiding behind cover.
“Breaching! Breaching!” The assault squad moves in, spreading out immediately as they enter the room. Gunfire breaks out between the squads and Fio takes the cue to order her team to retreat to the other room. Vicky holds up her riot shield protecting her team from the assaulting team's fire though it does very little to stop Hikari’s burst fire which rips into the shield and takes out Vicky without much remorse.
“Oh come on!” Zander throws his hands up in the air. “You’re supposed to hold your ground as the defending team. Why are you retreating? Your defensive positions left you three completely out in the open!” When he’s done scolding Fio’s team, he looks over at Ramirez’ team. “You all need to breach a little faster. Don’t wait a single second after your flash bang goes off. Listen for the explosion and burst in! Hikari, your weapon is accurate enough, you don’t have to charge in first. Let Ramirez take the lead. Ashley, your throwing skills are remarkable, but don’t forget to signal your team what you’re about to do. I’ve seen situations where some idiots breach without realizing their teammates tossed a grenade or flash. That’ll cost you the match!”
“Yeah...sorry. I’ll keep that in mind.” Ashley humbly apologizes.
“Communication people!” Zander emphasizes with his hands to both teams. “Use it! You’re not going to have me screaming at you when you go up against your foes next week! Run that drill again!
“They’re going to need a break pretty soon.” Tomio interjects Zander. “They’ve been running the drill over and over for God knows how long.”
“Until they show me a perfect breach and defense, they can hold off on their break.” Zander confirms with a strict demeanor. “You can’t get any of this wrong in your upcoming match. You’re just asking to lose if you’re not putting in the dedication.” He curiously notices Markus taking notes down on his tactical tablet. He rolls his eyes and confronts him. “You there, what are you doing here, anyways?”
“Oh. Me? Well..” Markus clears his throat. “I’m Lonestar team’s manager and advisor. I do all the bookkeeping, accounting of credits, and..”
“Yeah yeah yeah...I get it. Why aren’t you training with them?” Zander points to the squad members down at the kill house.
“Oh...I’m not really into the whole firearms thing.” Markus chuckles to himself.
“Eh? How come?”
“Oh well you know...um...let’s just say I don’t have an affinity for them. Honestly, my family isn’t exactly the pro-gun types to begin with so it’s not something I had any interest to begin with.”
“...Eish. That’s disappointing.” Zander rolls his eyes.
“Cheyenne! How’s the kill house recordings looking so far?” Emi calls down to the twins from Glam squad who are looking over a laptop with various windows showing different angles of the training facility.”
“All’s good, Emi!” She calls out from the ground level. “We can totally use some of this for your squad’s promo video!”
“My sister is brilliant as always isn’t she?” Bernadette pats her sister in the back. “I’m telling you, your squad has some of the best crew anyone in this tournament could ask for.”
“No doubt about that! We totally appreciate everything you are doing for us.” Tomio announces to the twins.
“Hey, we’re doing this because we want your team to get through this match in one piece.” Zander suggests to Emi and Tomio. “It’d be embarrassing if our former opponents were to lose so early in this tournament like we did.”
“If only Chiara were here…” Emi mumbles to herself, looking at her teammates on the ground, moving and firing through the kill house.
“Oh...that’s weird.” Markus comments while looking at this tablet. “Something has changed in the tournament bracket...I don’t see JarPig squad.”
“Huh? Must be a glitch or something. That can’t be right.” Emi looks over Markus’ shoulder and sure enough, JarPig is nowhere to be seen. Just Vampire Squad.”
“Did...did JarPig squad quit?” Tomio asks.
“I wouldn’t know. I mean, they kind of did face off against our squad when we were both gone. If they defeated us in that practice match so easily, why would they throw everything away when the match is just around the corner.” Emi looks over to Tomio with concern in her eyes.
“Maybe Asura got fed up with Kael and threw his squad out of her alliance.” Zander ponders along with the others. “You have no idea what a stuck up annoying twat Kael could be. I’m still shocked Asura even considered aligning himself with the bugger.”
Suddenly, Zander’s handheld radio turns on with Sung-Min calling from their frequency. “Zander! We got an intruder in our training facility!”
“Damnit, Sung-Min! You were supposed to keep guard! I don’t want uninvited guests in my training ground!”
“I couldn’t stop him! He Naruto ran past me so fast, I couldn’t grab him!”
“Son of a…” Zander groans and glances at Emi and Tomio. “I think we’re about to get some answers real soon.” Over the horizon, they can see a lone guy with blonde hair, wearing a brown coat over his blue fatigues. He’s running with his hands behind him, dodging 20mm fire from Andjela’s Denel NTW-20 anti-material rifle from her watch tower.
“Andjela! Cease firing!” Zander commands over his radio. Emi and Tomio look over the watch tower and get a clear view of the intruder coming their way. He looks like he’s been crying, with a torn hole on his uniform, his face is red and he stops ahead when he’s in clear view of everyone on the observation tower. Kael Valorheart yells at the top of his lungs, causing everyone in the kill house to cease and listen.
“Armadillo Squad!!! We have to talk! NOW!!!”