Chapter 54: Welcome to the Team
“There! Good as new.” Hikari finishes patching Nina’s wound on her thigh while she sits on an examination bed. The medical bay is utilitarian, no better than the other rooms in the base. Sterile white tiles are the only differential aspect of the room, which is constructed out of the many shipping containers purchased by the team. It still leaps above from what they had which was nothing. Hikari’s medic role comes into fruition in this very room. It’s a place to patch up recruits that injure themselves while training or in the event the base were to ever face combat from invaders. “Your health should be healed in a matter of seconds, now that you’re part of the team.
Meanwhile, Mai stands at the corner, completely enthralled by the presence of a celebrity. “And in a matter of seconds, Hikari and I are going to give you the first class treatment and show you around our home away from home.”
Nina slips off from the bed, her wound now healed, she’s capable of standing on her feet again testing her heels by tapping them on the floor. She grabs her wrists one by one to pop them. “That’s more like it.” She mutters flat but consistently monotone. “My proprioception feels centered. Thanks Japanese girl. Your application of the trauma-seal was efficient”
“It’s my pleasure, our gifted liability.” Hikari shoots back with a neutral tone. “You can call me Hikari Nakamura. I’m here on my own accord.” She glances over at Mai who’s leaning on the cabinets with excited impatience in her posture. “Even if I was dragged into this.”
“With no regrets.” Mai chuckled, departing from the cabinets to offer her hand to Nina. “And I’m Mai Keighley, the squad sapper.”
Nina shakes her head dismissively. “Sorry, I don’t do handshakes.” Mai looks rejected from Nina’s response but Hikari gives Mai a look as if to tell her she's probably not comfortable with physical contact. “But yeah, I know all about you two. Boomer and Hime are your call signs. I’ve seen your matches on the livestreams.”
“Oh. Hah. That’s great.” Mai mutters awkwardly. “Did we look pretty good in the matches?”
“Well…”
“I take that as not really.” Hikari interjected, nodding her head. “We still need to work on our fundamentals.”
“Uh. Of course. That’s why you’re here Nina, right?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Nina remarked unimpressed. “But I’m now on your team because I lost to your hot headed squad leader larping as an extra for Brokeback Mountain.”
“Tomio is not a bad guy.” Hikari insists, taking Nina’s pistol from the medical counter to hand back to her. “He’s a good squad leader. We wouldn’t be where we are without him or Emi.” Before handing Nina her CZ-75, Hikari can’t help but admire her pistol. “This pistol. It feels hefty and high quality.”
“Oh that’s just an old soviet-block beater.” Nina receives her pistol and holsters it on her waist. “It’s like my competition pistol I use without the bells and whistles. A real classic piece of Czech quality. Much like myself.”
“It’s pretty nice for a mass production pistol.” Her eyes looked over at the grip panels and frame. “Mai, why don’t you buy a decent handgun like this?”
Because my Hi Point is F I N E, Hikari.” Mai snarks back at her. See? I even have my fancy grips installed! Mai lifts up her tunic to reveal her Hi Point to Nina.
“No way! You have the Benjamin grips! What a champ!”
“You betcha!” Nina and Mai share laughter while Hikari stands there in silence, unimpressed.
“It’s unbelievable you find Mai’s pistol so...charming.” Hikari grumbles discordantly. Do you see how she carries that...that thing?”
“She’s fucking crazy! I like this girl!” Nina smirks while pointing to Mai’s pistol. “But your Japanese friend is right. You should get a cheap waistband holster so you don’t shoot yourself or drop your pistol.”
“Aha! Good thinking, Nina!” Mai agrees without any hesitation, much to the dismay of Hikari who rolls her eyes. “So. How about that tour?!”
A lot has changed since Team Lonestar won their first match. What was once an abandoned military base overlooking the skyline of Austin with empty hangers is now a busy and vibrant facility. Recruits march in formation with their training rifles with Tomio guiding them through drills with a megaphone. Another squad is doing some laps around the base, Emi leading the way and encouraging the new recruits to keep up their pace, though still in her cheer team outfit from earlier.
“That’s depressing.” Nina thinks to herself with a dismissive thought. “I wonder if she did it for her recruits or for her boy toy.”
The others are nowhere to be seen but are presumed to be busy somewhere in the many new facilities or offline. Nevertheless, the base has never felt more alive. This is apparent to Nina when she is led outside from the medical bay, a reconfigured structure made of storage units plopped together, as are some of the buildings constructed on the base. A white pickup truck carrying heavy duty crates drives through the concrete pavement towards one of the smaller hangers in the area. Ramirez steps out along with some of the new recruits to unload the bed of the truck and carry the loads inside. A crude wooden sign post strapped to one of the light posts next to the hanger points to directions of various facilities, noting that the hanger close in proximity is the team armory.
“Our first destination ladies!” Mai exclaims, nearly skipping ahead of Hikari and Nina. “I don’t want to wait any longer to unpack my new Type 56 SKS!”
“Hey! We’re giving a tour to our new teammate, Focus Mai.” Hikari scolds Mai like she's her older sister. “Nina, you don’t have a primary, right?”
“Just my pistol, but I’ll look for something at Flint’s later. I want to get an idea of what your squad is running other than what I’ve seen in your matches.”
The girls enter the hanger through a strong wooden door and are greeted by a receptionist behind a steel counter inside a makeshift office. He’s a recruit with frames on his face, sitting behind an old terminal. “Mai, Hikari! Welcome. We have received batches of new ammo and a new rifle today.”
“You betcha. That’s my new rifle.” Mai proudly states to the receptionist. “We need you to add a new member to the armory list. Our new friend, Nina Marek.”
“Nina Marek?” The recruit looks up from his terminal with a puzzled look on his face. “Well...if you insist. Can she be trusted?”
“Absolutely.” Hikari pitches in. “Isn’t that right, Nina.”
“As if I’d have anything to gain from sabotaging your team.” Nina shrugs. “I’m more appalled that this boy doesn’t recognize who I am.”
“They are gamers.” Hikari remarks. “Most of them aren’t in tune with the real world. Some of our recruits are online for the majority of their time.”
“Hm. Can’t blame them.” Nina toys with the sleeves of her competition shirt. “Although they could learn a thing or two about real life shooting fundamentals from me.”
“Now that you’re in the system, you may proceed into the armory. We currently have a couple of Chiappa M4-22 rifles, M4A1 base rifles, Glock 44s, and a couple of Mossberg 88s in our inventory. We’re getting a new shipment of T91s pretty soon. Tomio got them at a good discount from Flints.”
“That’s a lackluster selection. Why T91s?”
“They are a poor man’s HK416 according to Tomio.” Mai answers and shrugs her shoulders. “He wanted something reliable for our recruits when we sent them to skirmish.”
“So that cowboy has some sense in him after all.”
"Besides, that's just the general issue armory," Mai waves her hand. "We’re going to the specialist armory. That’s where we keep our weapons. Separate from the rest."
“Sounds good to me. What are we waiting for?”
“Clearance.” Hikari interjects. “We need to be approved before going in. If you want to blame anyone, it’s Chiara’s idea. She said it helps keep spies away from our gear.”
“I was able to walk right into your base without any conflict.”
“Yeah but you’re Nina Marek.” Mai says with a wink. “As if we would deny entry to a celebrity.”
“You don’t even know that.” Nina nods her head. “Whatever. I’m not here to preach to you all about op-sec. Just show me your guns.”
“Alright. You three are good to go.” The receptionist calls out with a click of his mouse. “If you’re taking anything out, come see me before you run off with your equipment. I need to mark anything in the armory that’s coming out. Helps with inventory.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in stealing your tier C stuff.” Nina flips her hand at the receptionist. “This is just a tour.”
The girls exit from the closed off office into the open space of the hanger. Inside the hanger are smaller additional sheds, made of sheets of metal with the exception of the firing range which is a concrete structure inside with iron doors. The other buildings are a series of sheds with painted signs labeling them as General Armory, Private Armory, The Locker Rooms, Firing Range, Ammunition Room, and Equipment Maintenance. Mai leads ahead, thrilled to get to her rifle’s locker. Inside the Private Armory are locked weapon lockers, each one with fingerprint scanners specific to each squad member. A female recruit, serving as a crew member of the locker room waits for them in the room. She has a wooden crate with Chinese markings written across.
“Mai. I’ve received a new rifle from the Mil-Sim Legacy Armory. It’s from that code you redeemed from last night.”
“F yeah.” Mai scurries over to the crate and pulls out a cheap no-brand flip knife. “Come to mama…” Hikari and Nina stand by and watch Mai unbox her new rifle from the crate. Hikari doesn't want to spend another moment in this room. Nina however seems invested in Mai’s new rifle.”
“Phew...he’s a beauty.” Mai raises her new Type 56 SKS in factory new, pristine condition. The bluing is untouched, the stock doesn’t have a single chip on it, and the rifle is coated in thick cosmoline, some of which sticks to Mai’s bare hands. “It’s like it came out of Jianshe Factory 26. Not even my real SKS looks this handsome!”
“I wouldn’t want to take that into battle.” Nina suggested. “Not in a pristine condition like that.”
“Of course not. That’s what my other SKS is for.” Mai pressed her finger on the scanner of her locker. It pops open to reveal her original Type 56 SKS which has been decked out in a black Tapco Stock. She places the new rifle inside for a moment to take out her modernized one out along with her magazines. “This one on the other hand is my beater. It takes these 20 rounder magazines but I heard I can get 30 or even some drum magazines for this baby.” Mai holds the rifle up for Nina to see before putting it back into her locker.
“Not to mention, I bought her that stock too.” Hikari grumbles across the room. “Only because she’s so stubborn and refuses to buy something better.”
“The Japanese girl isn’t wrong. But you have to admit…” Nina analyzes Mai’s modified SKS with a look of mild admiration. “There’s something soulful about using minimalist equipment in this day and age. Everyone is running around in hi-tech rifles with thermals and lasers but you’re using the bare minimum. Something to get you by at mid distances. Not adequate enough for door kicking or long range shots but something that like SKS is versatile enough to not make you completely useless like those bolt action chums.”
“True. I’m the squad sapper after all.” Mai slings her new SKS over her shoulder and stuffs the duckbill 20 round magazines into her pouches. “My job is to blow shit up with IEDs and my RPG7. But those are in my equipment room. That doesn’t mean I’m bad at shooting. I’ve trained with my SKS even before I got into Mil-Sim Story. I have a rifle like this in real life.”
“Well that’s respectable, I guess.” Nina looks over at Hikari. “What about you, Japanese girl? Hikari right? Let me see your AN-94. Why do you wield such a complicated weapon?”
“Oh...give me a second.” Hikari, seemingly thrown into the spotlight, heads over to her locker and pulls out her AN-94 Assault Rifle. She has a OKP-7 reflex optic and a L3Harris PEQ-15 on her handguard. Her magazine is slanted but is the norm for her rifle. “Unlike Mai. I wanted to use the very best equipment as the squad’s medic. This Russian Assault Rifle is one of a kind with a clock work mechanism with a superior recoil system that allows me to get two shots on target with extreme accuracy and with a modern intermediate round. Try getting any of that with Mai’s clunky rifle.”
“Speak for yourself!" Mai interupts. "I can disassemble this rifle on the floor right now and put it back together without having to hire an engineer to put your rifle back together!”
“Maybe I should have you clean my rifle for me, my dear Mai.” Hikari chuckles, caressing her own rifle. “You are an engineering major. Why don’t you learn the beauty of this rifle’s mechanics for yourself.”
“I get enough headaches with my intro to digital mechanics homework. No thanks. Flint has the patience to deal with your complicated rifle's issues, but I don't.”
“You two fight like a bunch of spoiled siblings.” Nina laughs to herself. “Maybe you both are the kind of dorks I can get behind with this team.”
“Dorks?! Now just wait a…”
“We’re honored to be called dorks!” Mai bows her head. “Beats being a normie in this day of age.”
“See. She gets me.” Nina motions to Hikari. “Maybe she should have been squad leader.”
“Nah. I don’t have that bone in me.” Mai shakes her head with her hair flicking around from being unkept. “But we should get your new uniform while we are at it. Fio runs that show for our team.”
“Remind me to speak to her once this tour is over.” Hikari adds. “I have a transaction I need to get done.”
“Oh right!” Mai exclaims. “Hikari’s sidearm is a liability.”
“It’s not reliable.” Hikari puts her rifle away and takes out her P320 Spectre Comp. When Nina sees the pistol she immediately shouts.
“GET DOWN!” She pulls Mai down with her to the ground.”
“Relax, It’s not loaded.”
“Of course. I’m just messing with you.” Nina gets up from the ground with Mai who is a little shocked from that stunt. “I know you’re smart enough to not carry a round in the chamber after what I saw from your last match against Vampire Squad. Let me see your pistol.”
Hikari hands her pistol over to Nina. She racks the slide to check the chamber first and then pulls the trigger. She nods as if she’s in approval. Racking the slide with the trigger still pulled, she depresses her finger for that audible click. She hums to herself. “Yes. This is a fine pistol. Really fine. The guys at my course run pistols like these for competition. It’s a pretty nice trigger, I won’t lie. And the reset is almost as good as my CZ Shadow 2. It’s not bad for a striker fired pistol. I would keep it, if I were you”
“Huh? But why?” Hikari cried out confused. She looks down at the pistol being handed back to her with disdain. “It went off when I dropped it. I can’t trust it.”
“That’s because the trigger is light and you don’t have a trigger safety. That’s the price you pay for a nice shooting striker fire gun.”
“Well, whatever the reason, I’m getting rid of it,” Hikari says firmly, holstering the Sig. “Let’s go find Fio.”
The locker rooms for the squad’s uniform are distinct from the other rooms in this hanger. It appears more as a sports locker room than it does a military one. The lockers are distinct and colorful with brick walls behind them. There are benches to help with slipping on boots or just as a seat when a squad member feels tired. Mai leads the way inside the locker rooms with Hikari and Nina following behind.
“I see you don’t have separate locker rooms.”
“Nah. We go with the starship troopers approach.” Mai explains. “Besides, it costs too much to construct separate locker rooms. It’s not often we have to change out of our uniforms. So nobody really comes in here unless they need a new uniform.” They turn a corner into the next row of lockers to find Chiara changing out of her cheerleader outfit with her tunic laid out on the bench, unaware of the visitors who just came in.”
Chiara is currently mid-stride, balancing precariously on one foot as she tries to pull on her black combat shorts with her cheerleader uniform top half-unzipped. Hearing the sudden echo of footsteps and chatter, her head snaps around, her eyes widening in immediate, mounting panic. Her face flushes a deep, instant crimson. “Wha...EEK!” Chiara stumbles on her foot and falls onto the ground. Her face blushed like she had a fever. “Mai! Hikari! Why didn’t you announce yourselves before coming in! I’m changing!”
“Apologies, Chiara,” Hikari says, stepping forward with an apologetic bow of her head.“Mai insisted on showing Nina the facilities without checking the manifest first. We’re looking for Fio. Nina needs her fatigues.”
“Yeah, she’s part of the team now. Remember?” Mai reaches her hand to help Chiara up. “We’re all girls here, you don’t have to be embarrassed.”
“That doesn’t make it better!” Chiara quickly grabs her clothes from the table to cover herself. “I don’t like to be seen...like this….it’s embarrassing…okay. I’m not used to changing in front of others.”
“We’ll you’re in luck. Now you can get over that fear too!” Mai waits for Chiara to finish.
“I’m going to look for Fio...wait here.” Hikari walks off to find Fio in the locker room.
“In the meantime, I need to borrow you for a moment.” Mai pulls Chiara towards Nina once she’s done changing into her combat fatigues.
“Mai, what are you…”
“Check it out, Nina!” This is our iconic Armadillo Squad Fatigues. We prioritize comfort and utility!” She lifts Chiara’s arms out to a T-pose. “Check out the rugged fabric. Dyed with a coyote brown color to blend in with all types of environments. You can put on all kinds of webbing and plate carriers, these tunics can handle it all!” She spins Chiara around with her hands in a complete circle.”
“Mai...please cut it out.” Chiara stammers.”Nina doesn’t give her input just yet while she observes.
“Almost done.” Most of our female recruits and squad members like to wear a black skirt or shorts like this.” Mai tugs at the edges of Chiara’s shorts. “But I say they should all switch to cargo pants like I do. I mean you can wear whatever you want but I’d like to think our squadmates should all be practical. What do you think, Nina?”
“I can’t disagree with that...but what about Longhorn Squad?”
“Right here!” Fio’s lively voice fills the room with Hikari by her side. “Our uniform is distinct from our Armadillo brothers and sisters.” She turns around to show off her own fatigues. “We have a similar design to Armadillo Squad but our tones are olive tan. Makes us better for environments with vegetation.
“Interesting. Though I wouldn’t say either of your uniforms are professional looking.”
“Yeah, well they get the job done.” Hikari shrugs. “Perhaps we should look into some redesigns. But this is our uniform for now. Do we have something in Nina’s size?”
“Uh...yeah...I think we do. Can you come with me for a second? I need to get your measurements.”
“Yeah sure...you three don’t run off now you hear me?” Nina orders Mai, Hikari and Chiara to stay put.
“Now, you’re starting to act like a natural squad leader, Nina.” Hikari noted.
“I’m used to being the instructor. I teach shooting for a living.” Nina remarks before heading off with Fio. Chiara tries to walk away but Mai and Hikari grab her.
“You heard her. No leaving.” Chiara sighs and droops her head at Hikari’s request. “She’s part of the team now. We wait for her like we do for anyone else.”
“Are we going to have her join us…” Chiara asks with uncertainty in her tone. “...for the briefing tomorrow?”
“Of course. Everyone is going to be there Monday night!” Mai patted Chiara on the back. “Joshua’s team too. Markus insists we all listen in about our next opponents. Our next match isn’t going to be the same as what we’re used to.”