Zander observes from the Glam twin's laptop with Armadillo Squad and Longhorn Squad going through their CQB exercise as they have done numerous times. There is no room for mistakes, no room to fumble. Every tactical movement must be intentional, and performed without hesitation. The team has been undergoing this drill repetitively for several painstaking hours. But alas, it's appearing they might have it all down.
"Stack up!" Hikari, Mai, Ashley, and Joshua who serve as their squad leader take positions behind a cardboard door in the kill house. Hikari takes a practice grenade from her kit and readies it. Zander's mercenaries, consisting of some of his new recruits, are volunteering to serve as opponents for this exercise. On the other side of the kill house, Vicky, Ramirez, Fio, and Kimberly are clearing a hallway after clearing out a room with some of Zander's recruits who didn't have a chance of returning fire. The only man stationed at the observation tower is Trevor who is overseeing the killhouse from above with his binoculars.
"So far so good." Trevor smirks as he calls Zander over his comms on his headset. I think they are starting to get the hang of it.
"About bloody time." Zander sighs. "I was starting to doubt the fact that we actually lost against your squad. Hey why aren't you training"
"Cuz I've already got my training at the police academy bro. Hate to break it to you but I'm probably the only guy here with actual CQB experience."
"Ha! I'm going to assume you're not breaking my balls. Done any crazy shit?"
"Oh it's nothing to write a whole memoir about." Trevor fixes his sunglasses on his nose. "Just a few traffic stops, a couple of drug running investigations, a few shoot outs with some gang bangers, and hm...oh yeah there was that one time where I had to shoot a shotgun out of a suicidal suspect with my SCAR-17 from a rooftop. Yep. Just the usual law enforcement stuff."
"Eish. You should be instructing them. I'm just a hardcore gamer."
"Nah. Too lazy. I'm just here to watch them grow up.
Zander bursts out laughing and shrugs his head. "Sure mate. Whatever." He focuses back on the squad in the video feed. Joshua bashes the door open with the butt of his F2000, with Hikari throwing a dummy grenade into the room. "Three, two, one, bang! Breach!"The five move into the room and split up in groups, checking every corner, every possible location and even taking positions at other doorways to guard for intruders before calling in "Clear!"
Trevor activates a button to sound a buzzer, calling everyone in the killhouse to cease firing. "That's a wrap boys and girls!" He announces over the radio to the squads in the killhouse. "That's how it should be done."
"Phew. I would have never guessed we'd actually get it right this time." Mai answers over their comms.
"Nice work, Ashley." Zander congrats over the radio. "You were able to catch up with the rest of your team despite being the FNG."
"That's encouraging." Ashley replies before speaking to Hikari. "I still don't know if I'm capable of taking on the tournament just yet. I fumbled a little over my reloads earlier."
"It's nothing to worry about, Ashley." Hikari reassures her. "You have to remember the proper way of inserting a magazine. Pretend you're popping a bottle of champagne, like this:" She demonstrates by inserting a fresh magazine into her AN-94. "Tilt and push. Like popping a bottle of champagne. The only difference with my rifle is that I have to do it at a slight canted angle but you get the idea.
"I can't believe you're starting to become proficient with your rifle, Hikari!" Mai smiled warmly as she leaded on the cardboard walls of the killhouse. "You're going to make me cry from how much you've improved."
"I appreciate it, Mai. Maybe I'll one day be just as good as you are with your SKS."
"These 20 round magazines aren't so bad you know." Mai pats her mags which are stored in his chest rig pouches which had to be cutted so the duck bill shaped feed lips could fit properly. "You know, they make a 75 round magazine for the SKS? Maybe I should get one and become a squad support gunner!
"Ugh. I don't want to imagine it, Mai."
"No worries, Hikari. Apparently those magazines are crap anyways. These Tapco ones seem to be reliable enough." Mai inspects one of her duckbill magazines which are topped off with 7.62 rounds. "I miss my old rifle stock. Nothing beats using stripper clips. It just feels so right."
Everyone makes their way out of the killhouse to regroup. They unload and check their weapons to clear them before going on their break. Hikari can see Fio and Joshua getting along pretty well. He's showing off his F2000 rifle and checking out her P90. They both are pretty stoked about their weapon choices. Ramirez and Kimberly both seemed baffled by Vicky's choice of ammo and she can see her giving a long winded explanation as to why she uses non-lethal shells. Looks like everyone is getting along and even forming their own groups within the team. Hikari joins Mai and Ashley at a picnic table on Zander's training field, not far from the others. Looking over her shoulder, she can see the Glam twins, Zander, and their new member Trevor, discussing the exercises her team had just performed inside the killhouse. She can only hear glimpses of tactical technical garble that is too out there for her to understand outside of what she learned from Mai and Drill Sgt Perry's advice. "What's taking Tomio and Emi so long?" She pondered to herself. "It's bad enough we don't have Chiara. If we were to lose our squad leaders to Vampire Squad, then we absolutely have no chance. Not even with Kael on our side now." She looks over to the sniper's tower where Kael is sitting under, not really bothering Andjela who is still on guard duty with her large anti-material rifle. "Hah, I wonder what that rifle could do to someone." Hikari amuses herself but looks back at Kael sulking under the tower, sitting on the ground with his knees and arms hiding his face. "What's in it for Kael? Is he really someone we can trust?"
"Yo! Hikari! You're in a daze." Mai interrupts Hikari's train of thought.
"Mai, I'm just worried. That's all." Hikari crosses her arms and shakes her head. "Emi and Tomio have been gone for too long."
"Hey, aren't they over there?" Ashley points over at the horizon to two figures walking back to the training grounds after the checkpoint. Seeing them at last brings Hikari a sigh of relief. Adjela rings a little bell at her watch tower to which Zander responds with his radio to the squads nearby.
"Heads up! Your squad leaders have returned." Everyone from the Armadillo and Longhorn squad gets up to reunite with Tomio and Emi. Their faces tell it all. Chiara is not with them. Emi comes to a halt as her team comes to a halt in front of her. She can see they are all fatigued from the training they had to endure while she was out looking for Chiara. She doesn't feel right telling them what has become of Chiara. She looks towards Tomio by her side who takes the initiative to announce the news.
"What Kael said is true. Chiara is now fighting for Vampire Squad." Those words from Tomio caused some distraught among the team.
"Chiara..." Kimberly murmurs softly. "What would make her do something so heinous? We've been so good to her."
"Are we going to actually fight Chiara again?" Fio asks Tomio with a worried look in her eyes. "The first time was fun but I can't shoot at a former ally."
"We don't have a choice." Emi finally speaks to the team. Her voice strained with disappointment and doubt. "Chiara made the choice to betray us. She's being manipulated by that coward, Asura, with promises of victory and a new outlook on life. I've done all that I could to try to convince her but she's too infatuated with the promises of power."
There is silence within the group for a moment.Trevor speaks out with some authority and humor in his words: "So our only option now is to give her a good spanking?"
"Yeah! A spanking for the traitor! Who's with us?" Mai suggests enthusiastically.
"Nobody is getting spanked you two." Emi sighs. "But we are going to prove to Chiara next week that her choice to abandon us will be the dumbest thing she'll ever do in her life. We're going to have to settle our disputes with her in battle."
"That's not going to be easy." Kael's voice catches the attention of everyone to their surprise. He seems to be done sulking to himself and has got right back onto his feet. "She probably told Asura everything about your defensive plans. She's given your enemy the exact map layout of the mansion. I've seen this map as did my former squadmates in JarPig Squad. Now that she has me out of the picture, she's probably scheming up a new strategy to take your team down."
"What are you suggesting, Kael." Emi asks with a look of skepticism.
"I want to help you, Emi." Kael gets onto one knee and bows his head. "I want to make things right with your team, my friends, and settle my score with Asura, under your banner!"
"What! No way!" Mai stammers in disagreement. You're a simp. There's no way we can even trust you to fight alongside us. Your friends are fighting for Asura!"
"Mai,think about it." Emi speaks firmly to her. "He probably knows more about Asura's team than anyone else in our squad right now."
"Yeah, but so do we. We faced off against them in the Mall battle and..."
"You lost." Kael interjected Mai. "Please listen to me. I know how Asura thinks. I know what ticks her off, what can potentially throw her off." He gets up back on his feet. "And more importantly, I know how my squad fights. I know how they feel about me being ousted. I can convince them to lay down their arms. I want to take them back from Chiara." He clenches his fist as he speaks firmly. "Asura did more than steal my chance at winning this tournament. She got me banned from my MMO right after. Apparently for harassing her. I have nothing to gain except my friends and my vengeance."
Mai frowns, wanting to kick Kael onto the ground but Hikari holds her back. Emi looks at Kael for a moment, judging him for his character before speaking. "We already have a scout role filled. I can't fit you into my team for this match."
"I think he should take my place, Emi." Ashley suggests to Emi's surprise.
"Ashley! But you trained so much and.."
"True, but I'm not as experienced as Kael. I still have a lot I need to get right, Emi." She looks over at Kael who is equally as shocked as everyone else. "I don't doubt anything he's saying."
"And you know what? Neither do I." Emi thinks about it seriously. "Ashley, Are you sure you want to sit out the match?"
"It's fine, Emi. I don't want to hinder your squad until I feel I'm ready. You're going to need everything you got against your opponents. It’s fine. You need your best for this fight. Like track and field. Only the A-team runs the finals."
"Just like in track and field." Emi repeats approvingly. "Kael Valorheart. Do you have what it takes to fight as an Armadillo?"
"I have more to offer than just my skills." Kael bows his head again. "I'll tell you everything we need to know about our adversaries. I want to take Asura down just as much as the rest of you."
"It's settled. Kael, welcome to the Armadillo Squad." She offers her hand to Kael and shakes his. "For now on, you answer to me as our team scout." She looks over to Mai who still has doubts written on her face. "Please, give Kael a chance. He might be exactly what we need to take on Vampire Squad."
"He better." Mai says with doubt and distrust in her tone.
"I'll tell you everything." Kael retorts back. "Down to the very weapons her squad uses. You have my word."