Mil-Sim Story

by Waifu Library

Written in 2024

Free as in freedom and price. If you paid for this ebook, you got ripped offed. All references to real life corporations, firearms, and people are entirely fictional and have no basis on reality. This is a work of fiction purely meant for entertainment and nothing else. Thank you for checking out this story and enjoy!

For more stories and content, Check out my website at:

https://waifulibrary.neocities.org/

Credits

Story and Audio:

Story written in LibreOffice on an Thinkpad X230T running GNU/Linux

Audio edited on Audacity

Character Voices from ElevenLabs (As placeholders for now)

Hosted with Neocities

Visuals:

3D assets and models were made with Koikatsu Repack and Better Repack Modpack

Title card and fonts made with flamingtext website

Index Page Card designed with Picrew and art assets are by Elle-Koi34

All images cropped and edited with GIMP

Koikatsu Mods created by these users:

[pandaman] [toutvabien] [DHam] [Belkan] [Tsundere Operator] [StoutShako] [titan36] [Reverie] [Rskoi]

Special Thanks:

You! The readers

Lotus's Cube for additional feedback and editing Chapter 3. (Looking over the changes right now)

Mil-Sim Story
A Waifu Library Story

Part 1: This is My Mil-Sim Story

Chapter 1: First Week of Uni

"You're almost there." Emi internally monologues to herself as she pushes herself to finish her final lap. Her sun-kissed skin gleams with sweat from the humid and dreadfully scorching heat despite it being early in the morning. Her shoes barely sticking between the white lines one the track as she sprints around the course. Other students observe her along with her coach who times her with her stopwatch. While morning jogs usually offer a peace of mind to Emi, she's anything but clear of mind. She has to make a good impression for her track team considering she's a freshman in this University. Emi is certainly no stranger to being competitive or athletic. She does wonder if she'll accomplish anything from all this when she should be focused on her studies. Then again, it weren't for her athletic abilities from her high school years being in the track club, she wouldn't have that scholarship she desperately needed. She couldn't just wing it with academics like her precious friend Chiara.

"Well done Emi!" Her coach noted as she stopped her timer once she had completely the lap. Emi was resting on her knees, sweating and panting from her run. "Your third time was definitely faster than your other two. You might have what it takes to be on the track team But you still have three more trials to go. Train harder for the next two and you might just make it. You're done for now Emi." Emi nods, still panting as she gets up from the ground, she heads off to the sidelines to get a sip of water from her jug. She pours a bit on her towel which she uses to cool off her face and hair which is fluffy and messy. As she cools off, she can hear some of the other track girls not to far off from the bleachers where they are sitting. She can't make out what they are talking about but it seems or less to be gossip. She can't stand that sort of thing. Although she's not insecure about herself and has no issue speaking to others like her friend, Emi is no keen on talking to most girls. She just finds their materialism and drama to be too much for someone as humble as her. She wonders about her friend Chiara and how she might be doing in her classes. It's a shame they didn't get the same dormitory together. But she knows she can find her around lunch time and catch up together. She doesn't like the idea of seeing Chiara by herself like she usually was back in high school.

Until then, Emi has to get herself cleaned up. She grabs her sport bag and water jug and leaves the track field, straight towards her dormitory. This university is rather spacious and homes plenty of classrooms, facilities, and dormitories, yet despite housing thousands of other students, it's awfully lonely and quiet this morning considering it's the first week of the semester. As early as it might seem, the sun barely peaking over the horizon, it seems some classes are already in session. From what Emi has experienced so far, she's a bit disappointed by how college really is. But deep down, she hopes she finds her purpose and meaning to all this, maybe in track and field, or maybe in her Psychology major. "Could I be a good person to others just as I am with Chiara?" She ponders to herself that question since she doesn't really have a high tolerance for other people's bullshit. Everyone Emi has come across so far in college aren’t exactly inspiring to Emi. Not even her fellow classmates in her psychology courses. "If all of these classmates are here for selfish reasons, to make a career out of helping others just to profit from it, humanity is going to be completely screwed." To be fair, Emi’s not sure why she’s even majoring in Psychology. She had to go to college and major in something to please her parents and inspire her little brother at the very least.

Within a crowded lecture hall sits a petite, pale looking girl with innocence in her deep blue eyes. She sits a bit far back in the auditorium seating, a laptop sitting on her rather small desk that barely gives her space between the students sitting next to her. Her light reddish hair, normally kept straight and free flowing is tied into a simple ponytail for her own comfort though she wishes she could cover her face with her bangs and hair. She's already feeling a lot of discomfort being around so many classmates in such a claustrophobic setting. Eventually the professor, an older man of Indian descent enters the classroom, five minutes later than what was scheduled. He puts his jacket on his chair in front of the lecture hall, prepares his microphone and projector before starting his lesson. "Good morning everyone, and welcome to Music Theory 101. I'll be your professor for this course." As the professor goes through his power point going over the semester plan, assignments, exams, and his contact hours and email in his presentation, Chiara can't seem to understand his accent very well and appears lost. Normally, she's quite a good listener but this is the first time in her life that she struggles to follow through what the professor is saying. She start to feel a tightness in her stomach, a feeling of uncertainly about being able to follow the lectures.

"Once the professor starts off with his first presentation and subject for the course, Chiara finds it hard to keep track as she types what is presented on the power point. Her little fingers type desperately to keep up as the professor speaks quickly and breezes through the power point within seconds. "Everyone got that? Moving on..." Chiara really wants to speak up but finds it difficult to raise her hand and ask so she continues to try to keep following along. Eventually, she just gives up with a sigh as she instead tries a new approach by not typing notes at all, desperately giving her absolute attention to the professor as he speaks but she can barely follow what he is saying. At the end of the class, she puts away her laptop and waits for everyone to start leaving before she takes a breath and approaches the professor. "Um....excuse me but..." "Ah, you must be Miss Lorenz yes? Is there something I can help you with?" He says with a heavy accent. "Do you have the power point for today's lecture?" She asks in a soft and nervous voice. "Ah of course, why didn't you tell me earlier? I'll make sure to post them on the class blackboard online later today." "Oh good...thanks." Chiara sighs in relief as she thanks the professor and heads out of the lecture hall. She kind of feels like an idiot for trying to take down notes from the power point.

As she leaves the lecture hall, she feels even more awkward as she notices all the classmates socializing and laughing. They seem to be having a good time. She wonders why she feels so alone in her struggles. Well at least she has Emi to hang out with at lunch. This first week of college has been rather upsetting for Chiara. Chiara was a model student for all of her life, being a highly regarded student among her instructors in the classroom and in Orchestra as a pianist. At the same time, she loathed school and all of her classmates who either bullied her for her shyness and awkwardness or outright ignored her to the point where she felt like a ghost sometimes. While she has not run into any bullies so far in her first week as a freshman in college, she feels somehow more lonely than she's ever felt in her life. Everyone seems to already made connections within her classroom and yet she can't name as single guy or girl she can talk to other than Emi who isn't even in the same major or dormitory as her.

Chiara wishes that she could just return to her dorm and take a breather but she has another fine arts class to attend to real soon. “History of Popular Music.” Not exactly something she considered ever taking but it was required for her degree plan. All she can at this point, is soldier on through her lectures and count the hours until lunch break where she can finally get some time to relax with Emi.

Meanwhile, in a dorm room not far from where Chiara would be staying at, two other girls are staying in. One of them is a short blonde girl with messy hair. She's napping on the floor of the dorm room, engineering books laying close by along with her used budget laptop which is connected to a headset device. Her t-shirt is far too over sized for her stature and she wears jogging pants despite having any athletic aspirations what so ever. The other girl, sitting at the desk nearby across from the beds in the dorm room is a Japanese girl, elegant in her appearance and dress, wearing named brand blouse and skirt. Her slick black hair is well kept with twin ponytails and she has elegant ear piercings and make up. She sits on her chair which she spiced up with a velvet pillow for comfort, her leg nudging the short blonde girl sleeping on the floor.

"Come on Mai, don't knock out on me like this! You haven't helped me on this damn math problem!"

Mai grumbles in her half asleep state as she speaks. "Mm....ah...why don't you study on your own or hire some tutor to help you? You have the money for a good tutor."

The Japanese girl shakes her head. "Because you've helped me out all the time we went to high school together, so you might as well help me out now. Come on, you know math isn't my strongest subject."

Mai rolls and sighs as she tries to keep herself awake. "Then perhaps you should have gone for a different major Hikari. Who gives a shit what your parents want you to do?"

Hikari, clearly offended by Mai's remarks scoffs at her."Ugh, I do! They are paying my tuition for me to be here. What else am I supposed to do. I either get this medical degree or I go home a loser."

Mai finally opens her eyes, her eyes looking up at Hikari who looks down at her like a owner upset at her pet for making a mess. "You're really spoiled you know that? Whatever..." She lets out a cute little yawn before getting up. "Alright alright I'll help you out but you have to promise me when we're finished with our assignments for this week, you'll play some Mil-Sim story with me. Come on, it'll be fun." Hikari looks disgusted by this offer.

"As if I would play that dorky game with you. What kind of guy would find a girl who plays those sort of games attractive anyways?"

Mai smirks. "At least I have guys to talk to. You think that being a Japanese exchange student from a wealthy family background would do you favors but somehow you prove me wrong." She chuckles at Hikari's expense.

"Whatever Mai...I'll play your stupid game...alright. Just please...help me out with this question alright. I want to finish this assignment before lunch."

Mai smiles. "Heh. That's more like it. Trust me, we're going to have so much fun playing Mil-Sim Story. You might even run into some guys online when we play."

"Whatever...you disgusting little redneck." Hikari mutters under her breath before taking back her own words. "You know...forget that I said that...just help me out here please. You're good at this stuff."

Lunch hour is packed with students all over campus. It's one of the busiest hours, especially on a Friday as everyone is either going to the cafeteria, going to the parking lot to drive somewhere off campus, or heading off to have lunch in private at their dorm. For Chiara, she's looking for her friend just outside of her dormitory, waiting for her to arrive. Chiara was lucky to be staying at the Honor’s Hall in her university. Only those with the best resumes and grade are allowed to stay in these dorms. They have the nicest student spaces, housekeeping, and personal parking spaces, none of which Chiara really has any use for. She carries two bags with some canned ice tea and some sandwiches she made in her dorm room just for her and for Emi. She's not hard to miss when she spot her in the crowd. She waves at Emi who spots her and smiles back as she approaches Chiara.

"Hey Chiara! Thanks for waiting for me."

"Ah...it's no biggie. I made some sandwiches. I hope they'll be okay."

Emi gently pats Chiara's shoulder. "They'll be more than okay. You know that. Come on, let's go to the patio."

Chiara and Emi head inside the dormitory and up a flight of stairs towards a patio, overlooking most of the campus. Chiara's dorm is one of the farthest dorms compared to most of the buildings on campus and is seated slightly uphill giving it a vantage point over most the campus. The patio is located just by the stair case and has open windows letting the fresh air from outside in while providing plenty of shade from the sun. Despite being a popular hang out and study spot for the dorm, Chiara and Emi are the only ones having lunch there.

"How was class today, Chiara? Still stressful as before?" Emi asks, settling into one of the patio chairs. Chiara sighs, her shoulders slumping a bit as she takes out the sandwiches she prepared.

"Y...Yeah. One of my professors has a thick accent that's hard to follow. All the other professors are okay I guess." Emi nods as she listens. To be honest..." Chiara mutters. "I just don't if I can even manage this semester with the way things are so far. I never felt so lost in my life. I don't know how everyone can seem so...so fine."

"Chiara, you're one of the smartest and most talented girls I'd ever known." Emi interjects after taking a bite of her sandwich. "Besides, you don't know how everyone else if feeling unless you ask them. Most people are good at hiding their frustrations you know. It's just that the two of us are usually upfront about how we feel, at least with each other. You know that Chiara. I'm having my own doubts too. Track is... fine, I guess, but I don't know if it's what I want to do anymore. College isn't turning out to be what I expected either. Everything feels...so overwhelming"

"Yeah, overwhelming. I feel the same way Emi. Maybe we'll get over it. We should have known things were going to be different in college."

"Well thank God it's Friday." Emi remarks. "We got tonight and the weekend to relax a little. We both deserve a good break don't you think? Especially after our first week of college."

"Mm. You're right Emi. Especially with how chaotic it was to move in and get adjusted. Although it doesn't seem like there's anything interesting to do around campus."

"How about some VR gaming? We haven't done that in a while."

"True." Chiara murmurs. "I'm just a bit scared of being addicted or distracted by my studies if I get back into VR gaming."

"Not if we keep it in moderation. Just treat it like drinking responsibility or something like that."

"We're both too young to be drinking."

"Obviously" Emi chuckles. "But we're both old enough to play any online VR game out there. So we don't have to worry about not finding something to play. But if you're not in the mood for gaming, maybe I can get you to do some jogging with me in the morning. I know you don't really like intense exercises but a casual jog will do wonders for your mental health."

"Thanks Emi. I'll consider the offer. Are you done for today Emi?"

"Yep. I don't have any classes after this. Why?"

"Bring your laptop and your headset to my dorm room. There's a fairly new game I want to try."

Chapter 2: Mil-Sim Story

3 Months Prior In May

A trailer is uploaded to the official Valve and Zensoft VR CO social media platform. The trailer starts off with a black screen with the following text as a Hans Zimmer-esque electronic score fades in:

"Decades of First Person Shooter history and VR development all come together to form one of the most advance and realistic first person shooter experiences ever. Featuring PvP, solo, and CO-OP multiplayer action with advance friendly and hostile NPC AI."

The screen then fades to a montage of POV first person shooting action with players working together to storm compounds in a modern warfare setting., fighting in open terrain with support vehicles like tanks and APCs, to a Omaha Beach level with the player storming the beaches of Normandy in an authentic WW2 setting.

"Realistic War-Simulation like you never experienced before. Featuring thousands of firearms from all of Firearm History"

There's gameplay footage of a player in a shooting range testing out various firearms from modern assault rifles, historical bolt action rifles, and even an arquebus with a matchlock ignition system.

"Nearly unlimited customization and special events matches"

The trailer presents the hundreds of customization options from both tactical, practical, historical, and even some outrageous costumes clearly meant for humor or fun. The trailer then shows some various game-modes such as capture the flag, conquest, mission assault, wave defense, and various user configured game types like ATV racing, pistols only, and non-combat community activities like the theater mode and social hangout zones such as the gun store, armory, and various outposts.

"Get ready to experience your own: "Mil-Sim Story". Launches in two more weeks on Steam. Compatible with Zensoft Lucid Vision Pro and Basic."

Back to the Present: August

Chiara is busy making space in her dorm room. At about 12' by 19, there's barely enough room for two girls to comfortably play VR games. Chiara's dorm is quite nice compared to what most freshmen have on campus. Despite being a small dorm, she's lucky to have the privacy of her dorm all to herself but bathrooms and showers are a shared commodity in this particular dorm as are laundry services. Everything else from a small fridge, a little desk area with ports to plug in a computer or smart phone with a small bookshelf right above for Chiara to store her textbooks along with a small bit of space for a photo of her family, a single wardrobe with just enough space to hold a few clothes, a dress, and a jacket for the fall and winter season, and a small sink to wash her hands and brush her teeth. Across from all that is a twin sized bed and underneath that bed is a little spot for Chiara to store a few fabric storage cubes for everything else.

She crouches down under her bed and pulls out a headset, shaped like a helmet with a display unit that works similar to goggles that slip over your eyes. They are adjustable for all head and face shapes and can accommodate glasses. Something Chiara will desperately needs as she usually doesn't wear her contacts in her dorm room. Inside the helmet are a pair of magnetic sensors based off earlier neurological technology, used to detect vitals of the user. It's pretty advance for a consumer grade device as it is capable of alerting the user during game play if they should take a break for bathroom, fatigue, or other health abnormalities. There are also sensors within the helmet that trick your mind into thinking you are moving around in the game without the need to move your hands or body in real life. In other words, when you think about manipulating your hand in your mind, that thought will be translated into an input for the game without any sort of lag. In a way, this VR helmet replicates the feeling of Lucid dreaming but is limited by the software or game. There is a internal camera which scans the face of the user, which prevents anonymity for security reasons but is also used to replicate your facial features as an in game avatar. Of course, this is only applicable to games that support this feature. And all of this can be powered using a standard power brick. A laptop can be used as well for more budget minded units but premium models like Chiara's headset have everything built into the headset without compromising on weight or comfort.

Chiara hears a knock across her dorm and readily gets up to answer it. She knows, she'll be in VR with Emi but Chiara still wants to be somewhat presentable to her friend so she combed her hair straight, put on some joggers and a comfortable T-shirt and goes to answer the door.

"Sorry to keep you waiting" Emi remarks as she walks into her dorm. She's has her backpack and a simple carrying case holding her VR headset. She's dressed comfortably in a simple gray tank top and black gym shorts. Emi must have came from her early morning runs. She smiles as Chiara and pats her on the head making her blushed and embarrassed.

"Emi...don't do that! I'm a not a kid you know. We're both the same age."

"I couldn't help myself." Emi chuckles. "You're just so innocent." Anyways, what's this new game you've wanted to try out."

Well for starters, it's not the typical VR game we usually play. I heard about it from a forum online. It's called Mil-Sim Story.

"Ah...so it that some kind of shooter game?"

"Yeah but it's a bit more involved than your typical virtual battle royal, arena shooter, or open world sandbox shooter. It's supposedly very realistic and takes full advantage of the VR headset. It's also free to play too so..."

"So it's a bit of a simulation game with shooting elements." Emi smirks. Hm. I never knew you'd be interested in that sort of stuff.

"Well no...but I figured it might be something different from what we usually play. Plus it has regional network play so we might run into some other students in the local servers.

"Oh. I see what you're trying to do. You're using this game to try to find some new friends."

Chiara seems to have her scheme discovered. "Uh....well....I...figured..."

"Hey no worries Chiara. That's honestly not a bad idea at all. I think you and I could use some new friends on campus. It's not like we can watch each other's back 24/7 considering how our class schedule is.

"R...right. That's the plan. I mean...I figured it was worth trying and if it's not what we expected, then there's another games we can play instead.

Chiara scoots over on the floor for Emi to sit right next to her. They both place their headsets over their head. Emi boots up her laptop and launches Steam from her laptop as she connects her headset to it.

"Everything is good to go Chiara. The game should be listed on the start UI right?"

"Exactly. Just look for Mil-Story. You can't miss it." Chiara puts down her visor and leans back on her bed for support as she completely prepares herself to go into the VR world.

The boot up sequence takes about a few seconds to get running up. A logo with the symbol of a brain and computer appears with the text "Welcome to Zensoft Virtual Reality Software." A augmented UI appears before Chiara's eyes listing a bunch of options from games she has previously played like "Zensoft Worlds", "Minecraft VR", "Bachelors and Mansions" (A game she's embarrass to admit having in her Steam library). There's also a Cinema mode where you can watch movies with other people in VR, an interactive web browser launcher, and finally a option of new releases. One of hottest ones mentioned is a game called "War-Sim Story". High intensity, extreme realism, custom servers, events, social opportunities, and detailed customization. Chiara selects this option in her heads up display and after another loading screen later, everything is blank for a moment before her vision forms again.

A FM radio plays a fairly old country song "Let's Ride Into The Sunset Together" by Tony Vice. The area is a bit unexpected as Chiara looks around and sees shelves of ammo boxes with little sticker prices on them. There's shelves with various outdoor wares from hunting gear to old military surplus. Finally, there's a counter with a wall full of guns ranging from shotguns, old military bolt action rifles, modern rifles. The counter has glass shelves underneath displaying pistols and revolvers of various types.

Other than the music playing from the radio, it's fairly quiet. She finally catches a glimpse of a young man, slightly older than Chiara. He has a plaid shirt which is tucked into some brown cargo pants. He has a 1911 series 80 pistol in a shoulder holster. He also has a blonde mullet hairstyle. Something about him is reminiscent of the 1980s. He cleaning the counter before he spots Chiara. He places his rag down and leans over on the counter to greet her from afar.

"Howdy partner! Welcome to the Mil-Sim Outfitters. This is your hub to buy all the firearms and gear you would ever need before heading out into the simulation. I'm your humble and generous gunsmith and shop keeper, Flint."

"Flint?" Chiara responds back to the shop keeper. "You...You run this store?"

"That's right. I've been running this fine store since the launch of Mil-Sim Stories. Which was about a month ago if my memory serves me right."

"So...you're not a human..aren't you?"

"I am what you may refer to as an NPC. However, my AI programming allows me to interact with customers and guest like yourself. So I'm about as human as you want me to be. I see you are from the same college as the other girls here."

"Other girls?" Chiara asks as she finally notice a pair of two other girls at the shop walking into the shop through the front doors of the shop. One of them is a short, blonde hair girl with scruffy looking hair, all kitted up in a woodland camo fatigues and a rather minimalist green chest rig. She has a rather antique looking rifle with a folded bayonet underneath the hand guard shouldered with a green nylon and leather sling. She has a rather bulky looking pistol in a nylon holster that looks more suited to an airsoft gun. She has a drowsy look in her eyes and expression but doesn't seem intimidating compared to most girls she's come across in her life. The other girl may as well be the polar opposite as she has a anxious look on her face, as if she'd rather be somewhere else. She appears to be Japanese and has her hair tied into twin pony tails. She's not decked out as the blonde short girl and seemed to spawned in just as Chiara in very basic fatigues, a reddish long sleeve shirt and a black skirt. The blonde girl is humming the tune that is being played on the radio as she browses through the shelves of ammo boxes. The Japanese girl is standing there, her arms crossed as she taps her foot impatiently.

"Mai, can we please hurry this up? I gotta get my kit next." The Japanese girl whines as the blonde girl browses through the shelves. Don't you have enough ammo for your crappy old rifle.

"You take that back Hikari! This rifle isn't crappy at all. Okay...maybe it's old but this rifle means a lot to me. My dad had a SKS rifle just like this one. He would let me shoot it when I was growing up. It's authentic to the real thing. The ultimate pepper rifle!"

"Ugh...It's made out of wood Mai!"

"Wood and Steel. Yep...they don't make them like they used to." Mai smirks as she pats her rifle on the shoulder. "Now let me find some 7.62x39mm. I've been saving up some credits to bulk on some ammo before we can start our next match.” Mai waves her had lazily at Hikari. “Stop following me around and go look for some gear." She then notices Chiara from across the store. Her eyes light up with excitement "Well I'll be!...Look! Another girl, Hikari!"

Hikari also glances at Chiara. She's not feeling comfortable being in the spotlight as this is the first time in a long while since she's been noticed by others. "Uh....hello." Chiara says shyly. Mai walks up to Chiara and pats her shoulder very roughly.

"Chiara!, that's a fancy name. Are you rich like my friend here? Aha...never mind...I'm Mai. You're on campus just like us right?"

"Y...yeah. Music is my major."

"Oh. You're one of those...fine arts types huh? Hm...is that something you really need college for?"

"I...I want to teach music someday."

"Heh...I'm just messing with you. I'm sure you'll make a fine music teacher! I'm Mai. A mechanical engineering student! My friend Hikari here is from Japan and she's studying to be a nurse or something like that I dunno...Her family is stupidly rich!"

"You don't have to bring that up with everyone." *Hikari almost wants to face palm in embarrassment of her friend Mai. "It's good to meet you too Chiara. You seem pretty quiet and down to earth. That's a rare trait with most girls I come across unfortunately." Hikari mentions as she glares at Mai with slight disgust.

"Ah...really? Thanks. I appreciate that Hikari."

"You're welcome. You also seem very polite too. I seriously underestimated the fine arts majors. They are nowhere near as insufferable as the engineering students."

"That's rich coming from a nurse in training." Mai says under her breath with a bit of sarcasm. "Can't even do your own homework assignment. How sad."

"Oh shut up you little hick." Hikari snaps back as Chiara chuckles at the back and forth banter these girls are having with each other. "But don't let her hillbilly appearance fool you Hikari. Mai is quite the genius for a peasant."

"Yes I am and don't you forget...wait....wait what did you call me?" Mai scoffs. "Just hurry up and look for your gear already.

"I don't know anything about guns or what any of this stuff is for."

Flint listens in and interjects. "No worries, I would be more than happy to help y'all if you have any questions or perhaps any suggestions you would like to hear."

"I suppose that would be a good start wouldn't it?"

"Yeah...I probably need to pick some gear too...and Emi too when she gets here. She was supposed to..." Emi finally spawns into the gun shop.

"Ah...Chiara. Sorry to keep you waiting. I had some issues with my connection for some reason. Wow...look at this place!"

"Emi! Thank goodness. Hey. These two girls are from our University too."

"I'm Mai."

"Hikari. I'm Hikari."

"Well. So you're making friends already Chiara. That's already a good way to start this huh?" Emi looks at Mai and Hikari and smiles. "I'm Emi. I'm a psychology major. Chiara and I have been best friends since High School. We figured we would check this game out to waste our time for the afternoon and weekend."

"Well you picked right friends." Mai says with a proud expression on her face. "I was kind of hoping Hikari and I would run into some other players from this University. We should totally meet up after a quick round."

"In....in real life?" Chiara asks in a nervous demeanor."

"You betcha. Huh? You think I'm gonna bite you or something?"

Emi looks at Chiara and then to the other girls. Chiara's "avatar" looks pretty much the same as she does in real life and the other girls look rather unassuming too. It's one of those VR games that uses facial recognition.

"So, did you all figure out what your gear yet? Since you three are all new to this game, you're going to start off with a limited budget. You gotta win some matches to get better gear and all that good stuff. Not that I ever felt like doing that myself. Heh." Mai explains as she pets her Type 56 SKS rifle like an evil villain would pet their cat.

"I don't even know a single thing about firearms." remarked Hikari who just seems aloof.

"Hm...I suppose we don't know much either." Emi says as well as she nods to Chiara. I mean...I've played some old school shooter games with my younger brother when we were little but..."

"Then you ladies have nothing to worry about." explained Flint the gun store clerk with a friendly smile. "Well now, I reckon Some of y'all are new ’round here. So perhaps I can give you some suggestions that won't leave you out classed if that's up your alley."

"Mmm. Yeah. Flint's pretty knowledgeable on firearms. He's literally so perfect." Mai says as she places her hand over her own heart.

"Ah shucks....thanks Mai. I appreciate your wonderful compliments." Flint says with a small blush on his face as he chuckles.

"So you don't even talk to real guys huh Mai?" Hikari smirks with a slight chuckle.

"Of course I do. NPCs and real guys. I do talk to them. They are all really cool and some of them are cute. But you wouldn't know that. Maybe if you acted more humble instead of all high and mighty cuz your sooooo upper class than maybe guys would give you a chance."

"Uh huh...whatever you say Mai....let's just get this over with. Emi? Chiara? Do you both want to figure out what you want first?"

Emi looks at a pop-up HUD that only she can see in her vision. It states various stats from ranking (She's currently a recruit just like Hikari and Chiara), and 5000 credits (The in-game currency used to buy weapons and equipment). "Hey Flint, what would you personally recommend to a beginner? What do the new players usually go with for their first firearm?"

"Glad you asked. New and experienced players alike can't go wrong with the AR-15 platform." Flint grabs a couple of black assault rifles from the gun rack behind him. The AR-15 is a fine platform for players of all skill levels with its moderate recoil, decent firepower, good accuracy, and very reliable with a schedule maintenance. Some of the best competitive players swear by it. My cheapest models for beginners are the M4A1 and the M16A4."

Emi looks at both rifles placed on the counter. The M4A1 seems more handy with a shorter barrel length, retractable butt stock, and appears to have a detachable carry handle sight. The M16A4 as a rifle length barrel and a fixed stock. She takes a hold of both of them and gets a feel for them. "I like the shorter one. The M4A1 right?"

"You bet. Just keep in mind, the M4A1 has a carbine gas system. It's going to have slightly more recoil than the M16A4. But generally, the standard gas system tuning will make it reliable with even the cheapest ammo out there. The barrel velocity will also be less than that of the full 20 inch barrel of the M16A4. This M4A1’s a good choice if ya want somethin’ quick and easy to handle. Ain’t as long as the M16, but it’ll still get the job done. Got a deal goin’—starter package. 2500 credits upfront but you will get 4 magazines, 500 rounds of 5.56 M193 Mil-Spec FMJ, and a free surplus chest rig and sling to carry your magazines and rifle." How does that sound partner?. What d’ya say?”

"Sounds good to me. I'll take it." 2500 credits are deducted from Emi's credits. She takes the M4A1 and admires it in her hands. Although this is in VR, she can feel the weight the rifle and she lifts it. She manipulates the safety on the left side, inspects the retractable stock, before slinging the rifle over her shoulder as she picks up the chest rig with the 4 magazines and a box of ammo.

Flint then glances at Chiara. "And what about you? Is the AR-15 platform something you're interested as well?"

Chiara twiddles her fingers. "Um...well, I'm not so sure if I could handle the recoil. Do you have something with less kickback?"

Flint nods understandingly as he seems well in tune with Chiara's physique and her concerns with shooting an intermediate or full size rifle cartridge. He puts away some of the AR rifles away and looks through the next section of the gun rack which are labeled as sub-machine guns. "I think you might be better suited to a sub-machine gun. They use pistol caliber ammunition and have decent stopping power though they aren't as powerful as intermediate rifles like the AR-15. You still have a good rate of fire with some models How about some of these?" He pulls out a couple of sub-machine guns from the rack and places in front of Chiara. There's a Sten MkII, a Mac 10, A PP19 Bizon, and a MP5SD6.

"These are some of the more popular choices of sub-machine guns for beginners. The Sten MkII is one of our cheapest options for SMG players. It's gosh darn simple in construction and fairly controllable. The Mac-10 offers more firepower with the .45 ACP round; A real work horse of a caliber. It is very compact but might be a kind of harsh with recoil and accuracy. If you like to spray and pray like a super soaker party at the trailer park, the PP19 Bizon is a design from Russia that has a high capacity magazine but it's a bit on the heavy side and the reliability of the drum magazine is a bit so-so with most users. Then there is of course, the MP5. This here sub-machine gun is on special right now. The MP5SD6.

"Hm? What's with that long barrel thing?" Chiara asks as she looks at the MP5.

"Ah, that's the suppressor. The MP5SD6 is a special variant of the MP5 that comes with an integrated suppressor, which is what makes that is. The suppressor reduces the noise of the gunshot and also helps with recoil. It makes the MP5SD6 a lot quieter compared to standard models. Plus, the suppressor helps with accuracy by reducing the recoil and improving follow-up shots. It also has a telescopic stock to keep it compact. It'll feed standard FMJ and sub-sonic ammunition if you want to have a quieter sub-machinegun."

"And the recoil is pretty manageable right?"

"You betcha! The recoil on the MP5SD6 is quite manageable, especially with the suppressor. It’s designed to be easy to handle. It's designed by HK making it one of the more premium options for a beginner at 4000 credits...however, I do have a limited special offer on this particular model. With the MP5SD6 special offer, you'll get the sub-machine gun itself, a starter pack of ammo, and a couple of magazines. Plus, you’ll receive a simple chest rig to carry everything. On top of that, you also get a bonus pistol. The Taurus TX22 Compact, which comes with its own suppressor and some .22LR ammo. This offer is of course, only available to new players while supplies last."

"A free pistol?! Hikari blinks as her face lights up. You...you aren't kidding right?

"He ain't kidding." Mai interjects. "I got my Type 56 with a free Hi Point C9. If I were you, I'd take the deal. HK guns are really solid."

"Hi Point?" Hikari scoffs as she looks at Mai's side arm. Is that what they call that ugly poverty brick you're carrying?"

Mai rolls her eyes and smirks. "It's a 9mm that shoots like any other 9mm. It was free and works just fine. I just wish I didn't break my grips panels." Mai sighs as she feels the duct tape wrapped around the grip of her Hi Point C9. "A Taurus TX22 Compact is in 22lr which is honestly kind of anemic for a handgun but it's gonna make a pretty nice suppressor host. It's going to be your back up anyways so it's not bad for a freebie."

"Um...okay, I'll take it." Chiara loses 4000 credits and receives the MP5SD6 with a chest rig, 4 mags of 30 round MP5 mags, a box of 9mm FMJ, and the bonus Taurus TX22 Compact kit from Flint. "Thank you. I think I made a good choice. Right Emi?" Emi nods at Chiara and smiles.

"Alright Hikari. What's the rich girl gonna pick...wait what are you doing?" Mai freaks out as she notices Hikari going to the gun store ATM to buy in-game credits with her debit card.

"I'm not settling for low-tier gear as a beginner. Besides, I can afford to dump a few credits for a little game.

"Hikari. Don't be a whale. This game isn't pay to win. You're making a terrible mistake."

Hikari shrugs as she finishes her transaction. "Oh Mai. Sometimes you need a little extra to get ahead." She returns to the counter where Flint awaits. "Alright Mr gun store guy. Give me your rarest and most expensive firearms I can buy.

"Uh....well I'll be...you're asking for the special snowflake kind of firearms aren't you?" Asked Flint. "I..I reckon I’ve got just the thing, but let me tell ya, more bells and whistles don’t always make a better shot. But if you’re dead set on burnin’ a hole in your pocket, we can sure do some business."

"I’ll take whatever it costs. Just make sure it'll put all of these girls' pick to shame."

"Alright, alright. Let’s see what we’ve got here. Now, this beauty right here, the AN-94, is a top-tier piece. It was designed in the 90s by the Russians but was never really adopted except for a few special forces units. It’s the eastern equivalent to what the Germans did with their G11 prototype. It’s got that fancy two-round burst feature, quick as a hiccup, and it’ll keep your aim steady, even when the lead’s flyin’. Costs a pretty penny, though and I don't recommend it for beginners. It’s not a common rifle seen in Mil-Sim Story or in battlefields across the world."

"Sounds fancy to me. How much?"

"8000 credits. Just for the rifle. It's chambered in 5.45x39mm. One of the more gentle intermediate rifle rounds.

"Deal. I'll get the ammo later. What about a sidearm?"

Mai makes an audible facepalm.

"How ‘bout this here SIG P320-Spectre Comp? It’s a sleek shooter, with a compensator to keep the muzzle down and custom slide cuts to give it a bit of flair. Runs ya another 2500 credits." Flint places the SIG P320 on the counter as Hikari analyzes it. The slide is sleek and racks effortless, even for a high class girl who never shot anything before. It looks like something out of a John Wick Film.

"Looks good. I'll take that too.

"Hikari! Are you nuts? You're blowing a fortune on a game you're not even interested in."

"I wasn’t, but seeing how you all are so into it, I figured why not? Sometimes you need a bit of an edge to really get into something. You should learn to make some investments once in a while Little Mai."

"I'd be bankrupt if I ever took financial advice from you."

"But aren't you almost there already?" Hikari says with a slight chuckle.

Mai glares at Hikari, then sighs dramatically. "Whatever...just buy your stupid Gucci gear."

Hikari smiles as she make her purchase. She also gets a few boxes of ammo for her AN-94 and SIG P320 with what little money she had left. "Should be good enough for now. So...where can we try these weapons out?"

Flint, who’s been quietly observing the back-and-forth, finally chimes in. "Well now, y’all are all set up with some fine pieces. As for where to try ‘em out, you can head over to the range just down the hall. It’s got a variety of targets and terrain setups. Should be perfect for seein’ how your new gear performs. It won't waste any of the ammo you bought as all training ammo is free to use."

"Sounds good. Thanks Flint." Emi gives her gratitude. "You've played this more than any of us Mai. Could you show us the ropes at the range?"

Mai, who was still fuming slightly over Hikari’s splurge, nods begrudgingly. "Sure thing. I guess it’s only fair I give y’all a hand, especially with all the new gear you're packing." She pauses, glancing at Hikari. "But just remember, this is a simulation game so you have to put some effort into your shooting. Everything works exactly as it does in reality. Ready?"

Mai heads towards the range, with Emi, Chiara, and Hikari following closely behind. The excitement and nerves mix as they enter the range area, as they'll be testing their new gear for the first time. They walk past the first door which isolates noise from the range. There is a sign that mentions to practice safe firearm practice and to always wear hearing and eye protection before entering. The girls put on some ear muffs which isolate high volume of noise but allow each other to communicate easily over a built in mic. Once they enter the range, they can hear gunshots from other players testing out their firearms. There's a skinny guy with a ponytail and a blue polo shirt shooting what appears to be a Chautchat from the First World War, his stance perfectly stable as he deals with the weapon’s jumpy recoil. There's also a girl shooting a suppressed PPK dressed in fancy business dress with one hand. The shooting gallery is long and spacious and the girls eventually find enough stalls to shoot side by side.

Chiara gets a stall between Emi and Hikari. She places her weapon the stall as she sees a tool tip appear in her HUD. "Welcome to the shooting range. This is an area where you and other players can interact and test out your weapons." Another tool tip appears afterwards. "You are currently equipped with the MP5SD6 sub-machine gun and Taurus TX22 Compact. Each weapon has a unique manual of arms. It is critical that you are familiar with your weapon system as well as the various accessories equipped on your firearm. Let's start with the TX22 Compact."

A graphical representation appears in Chiara's HUD showing how to load a magazine, load a round in the chamber, fire, reload, and safety check. She goes through each step in order. Once she had filled her magazine with ammunition, she racks the slide on the TX22 Compact which turns out to be easier than expected. She takes a moment to relax, not sure if she's brave enough to fire for the first time in her life. This is a simulation and there's no consequences to messing up in theory but it still kind of frightens her with how realistic this all is. Chiara takes a deep breath, feeling the weight of the TX22 Compact in her hands. The polymer frame is smooth and comfortable, and the slide moves effortlessly as she racks it, preparing to fire.. She glances at Emi and Hikari, both focused on their own weapons, then back at the target downrange. The sound of distant gunfire echoes through the range, but it feels distant when she's at her stall.

She raises the TX22, the gun feeling almost weightless in her grip. The sights align easily with the target, and the HUD gives her a reassuring nudge to proceed. Her finger rests on the trigger, heart beating fast as she hesitates. The thought of firing—hearing the sound, feeling the recoil—feels surreal, even in a simulation. She closes her eyes for a brief moment, takes a steadying breath, and then, with determination, opens them. Her finger squeezes the trigger slowly.

"PLAP" The TX22 Compact fires with a soft blast. There’s barely any recoil—just a light, quick gentle pulse in her hands. The sound is mild, more like a sharp snap, and the bullet hits the paper target with a precise, tiny hole nearly close to where she was aiming. Chiara blinks in surprise, a small, triumphant smile appearing on her lips. Feeling a surge of confidence, she reaches for the suppressor she had previously set aside and carefully attaches it to her pistol just as the graphical tool tip had instructed her. The process is easy, almost instinctual, as she twists it into place.

Chiara takes a moment to admire the sleek look of her TX22 Compact, the suppressor adding a touch of sophistication that almost makes her feel like she's a secret agent, just like the woman with the PPK. With a deep breath, she raises the gun again, ready to test how the suppressor affects her shots. She lines up her next shot and pulls the trigger again. She can't even hear the "Plap" this time but instead hears the sound of the slide racking back and chambering the next round. To Chiara's surprise and wonder, it's whisper quiet now. She starts taking more shots, now hitting the center of the paper target with virtually no recoil, muzzle blast, and hardly any noise. If it weren't for the fact that she's shooting a 22 rimfire cartridge, she feels unstoppable. A little smile forms on her lips as she fires the last round of her magazine. A little achievement pops up titled "Achievement Unlocked: Lost Virginity" which gives Chiara a bit of a chuckle. She finishes the last steps of the tutorial which gives her the go ahead to move onto the MP5SD6. Compared to the TX22 Compact, the MP5SD is significantly heavier, especially with the suppressor but is otherwise pretty handy and forgiving.

The HUD displays a quick tutorial, guiding her through the basics: inserting the magazine, charging the bolt, and ensuring the weapon is set to semi-auto mode. Chiara follows each step carefully, her initial hesitation giving way to growing confidence. To chamber a round from the magazine, she smacks the charging handle on the side. "Achievement Unlocked: Do the HK Slap". Chiara almost feels like a pro-gamer with all of the achievements she's unlocking from the start. She aims the MP5SD at a new paper target, she checks to see if the fire selector is on semi-auto, and she gently pulls the trigger.

The recoil is a bit more significant but the weight the sub-machinegun helps quite a bit. It doesn't feel so bad for Chiara as she takes a couple of more shorts on target, aiming with her iron sights. There is no flash thanks to the suppressor but it's nowhere near as quiet as the TX22 Compact. She then moves onto the next firing mode which is the three-round burst. The MP5SD’s burst fire delivers a rapid sequence of shots, each one feeling firm and precise. The increased rate of fire results in a satisfying, rhythmic burst, and Chiara watches as the rounds hit the target in quick succession, forming a tight grouping. She has some rounds left over to try out the final mode of fire. Full Auto.

She switches the fire selector, takes aim and dumps rounds accurately and gracefully into the paper target. Although not as controllable as the three round burst, Chiara finds it very controllable to place rounds on target where she wants them to. She's impressed. "Tutorial complete! Well done! Feel free to keep using the range anytime you like. Try challenging yourself to longer distance shooting or if you feel like you're ready to move onto your first match, consult the contract board in the gun shop to start your first match." Chiara figures she has the hang of her equipment. She places her sub-machine gun to go check on Emi and the others to see how they are doing.

Emi stands at her stall, her tall build making the M4A1 look almost effortless in her hands. Like she's holding a tool without any effort. Emi demonstrates smooth, controlled shots in semi-auto, making sure her shots are hitting where she's aiming with her iron sights of her carry handle. She doesn't like the rear charging handle method but makes due with it. She adjusts her grip, and with a quick magazine swap, she continues taking shots on target. She stops and looks and Chiara, smiling as she gives her a nod of approval as she feels like she's comfortable enough with her M4A1. At the moment, Emi only has her M4A1 and no side arm. They both move on to see how Hikari is doing with her AN-94 Assault Rifle.

Hikari stands at her stall, grappling with the weight of the AN-94. The rifle’s weight and complex mechanics contrast with her upper class aura. She takes careful aim, and as she pulls the trigger, the rifle's two round hyper burst is so fast, it almost feels like she's shooting in semi-auto. The recoil is not felt until the second round has left the chamber and even that is mild to Hikari. The barrel seems to move back along with the recoil which is extremely unusual for an assault rifle. Hikari can put rounds down range with extreme accuracy as she burst fire rounds into the target. Each group is tight as two rounds make their hits almost instantly as the same time. Hikari is laughing as she fires it. When she moves onto her SIG P320-Spectre Comp, in contrast, feels like an extension of her hand, thanks to its sleek modifications. She fires it with ease, each shot crisp and smooth. Hikari glances over at Chiara, her enthusiasm clearly visible unlike a while ago when she seemed so uninterested.

"Money well spent am I right?" Hikari says and she places the pistol and rifle down. "They almost feel like a Swiss clock. Such premium firearms."

"No kidding. That AN-94 is unreal." Emi remarks being just as impressed with Hikari's rifle of choice. "Let's go see how Mai is doing. She's been playing longer than any of us here."

Emi, Chiara, and Hikari walk over to Mai’s stall, where she’s been methodically working through her drills with her Type 56 Carbine SKS and her Hi Point C9. Mai is a natural with her tools of war, firing her SKS like a natural. It's no secret considering she's been playing for months since she started playing in June, and she has real life experience with her father's real Type 56 SKS. When she empties her magazine, Mai quickly grabs a 10 round stripper clip from her Chi-com chest rig and feeds it into the internal magazine as she has done dozens of times, taking ten more shots at the target before emptying her magazine. She quickly draws her Hi Point C9 in all of it's poverty glory with it's chunky pot metal slide and duck tape grips and she takes shots with decent accuracy on paper. She finishes her drill and reupholsters her Hi Point C9 back into her Nylon holster. She turns around and notices the three other girls watcher her. "What? I told you I know what I am doing? So are all comfortable with our equipment now?"

The girls are now back at the gun store lobby, looking over their paper targets and admiring their first time shooting. Chiara shows off her groups on paper with her TX22 Compact and MP5SD. "Not bad Chiara." Mai explains to her. "Those are better groupings than what I was getting when I first started shooting my SKS. Granted I have a bit more recoil with my rifle compared to your 9MM sub-machinegun."

"Thanks Mai. You're pretty amazing with that rifle of yours. It's an SKS right?

"Yep. Just like the one my Dad has. It feels just like the real deal, except you can't smell the gunpowder or the cosmoline. Very sad. We don't have that technology yet."

May then looks at Emi's groupings. "Very nice. You got the hang of it. Nothing you couldn't handle right?"

"It was just like Flint said. The recoil is a little sharp but otherwise it was easy to handle. Not a fan of that charging handle." Emi remarks.

"No worries Emi. You have one of the more customization rifles out there. When you start winning matches and earning some credits, you can buy some upgrades and accessories for your M4A1. It may be mil-spec for now but it'll shoot like a dream within time.

Mai then looks at Hikari's grouping. She is still agitated over Hikari's attitude and comments from last time. She gives a bit of a "Hmph" as she speaks with her arms crossed while looking away. "I suppose it's alright." Mai murmurs like she's ashamed to admit Hikari's choice of weapons are effective. "You and your damn Gucci firearms" she adds under her breath. Hikari smirks and almost gives a subtle chuckle with a "Told you so." look on her face.

"Well...anyways, I think we're ready to start our first match...well your first match that is." Mai switches topics focusing on their next step from here. "The message board over there has listings for upcoming matches and events. I suppose we're all going to be applying as a squad right? (as much as some of us would like to shoot each other in deathmatch) which she murmurs under her breath. "I recommend doing something quick and simple like "Bomb Defusal". It's a team based 4 on 4 game mode. There should be some matches we can join."

"Sounds good to me." Emi replies. "So...how is this going to work out? I mean...we are all in a squad, so who would be team leader? I take it you would since you've played longer than any of us Mai."

"Hmm...well that's certainly true. I guess I take that role for now. There's really no class system in this game mode so we're all going to use the equipment we have and nothing else. Our object is going to be simple. We are either going to stop the other team from arming the bomb or wiping us out or we are doing that ourselves. Whoever detonates the bomb or wipes out the other team wins the match. I recommend one particular map as a start." May points to the message board which has an old school red LCD display listing a plethora of matches. Mai filters out the other game modes for "Bomb Defusal" and finds an open match for a match featuring one of her favorite maps for this game mode.

"Any of you girls played one of those old school online shooters before?" Hikari and Chiara shake there heads.

"Um...I sort of did with my little brother." Emi adds.

"Great! Because you're about to feel a little bit of Deja Vu."

Chapter 3: First Match

Before the Start of the match

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.)

Flashback Sometime During Emi's 6th Grade year

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.

Chapter 4: Post Game

The last kill shot was broadcast onto the flat screen TV with the banner: "Longhorn Squad Wins!". Kimberly and Fio erupt in cheers and high five each other as Ramirez sinks onto the couch and sighs in relief now that the match is finally over.

"It looks like Emi hesitated to take the last shot." Mai concludes as she watches the replay. She shrugs her shoulders and smirks. "Well she did pretty good until the end. Oh and you too Hikari."

"Is that a compliment Mai? A real compliment?" Hikari quirked an eyebrow, glancing over from her armchair.

"I mean, you got a kill. I didn't. I screwed up big time by not checking my corners."

"Are we even now?"

"Sure Hikari. I'll call it even now."

Hikari offers a soft smile to Mai as she crosses her arms and relaxes on her armchair. "You know, this game isn't half bad after all." Hikari sighs. "I could get used to this...other than losing."

"I could have sworn I got you after I empty my magazine into your cover." Fio addresses Hikari from her side of the penthouse living room. Her high pitch nasally voice being distinct out of the all the others in the penthouse.

"I was hiding behind the engine of the car. You know you're going to have a harder time making penetrations behind such cover." She winks at Mai. My little engineering friend told me about that long ago.

"Hey, you're a real Japanese are you?"

Hikari almost chocked on her own laugh. "A real Japanese?" What do you mean?

Fio twiddles her fingers. "Well...um...what do you think of Anime and Manga."

"What about them? I know they are for dorks if that's what you're implying." Hikari smirks in a dismissive manner.

"Oh....I see.." Fio sighs. "I don't think our squad leader Tomio is either."

"Your squad leader is Japanese?" Hikari eyes light up with a piqued interest. Perhaps this is her chance to finally find a boyfriend of her kind."

"Partially." Fio remarks. "His family is more Italian leaning."

"Oh." Hikari sighs but she ponders a bit more about it. "I mean....maybe..."

Emi and Tomio finally spawn into the penthouse floor. Fio, Kimberly, and Ramirez all get up go congratulate him the moment he spawns. Emi is still reeling from the end of the match. Chiara is the first to approach her.

"Emi?"

She quickly comes back into reality once she hears Chiara's voice. "Ah...well..the match is over...sorry I couldn't win the match for our team."

"Nah...it's not biggie." Mai pats Emi on the back. "You did just fine for your first match. In fact, you probably make a better squad leader than I would."

"Oh, no... I just did what I could when it was down to Hikari and me. Nothing special, really." Emi tries her best to speak humbly even though she wasn't very proud of her temporary role as team leader.

"She's right. You put up a good fight Emi."

"T..Tomio?" Emi blushes in embarrassment as she is addressed by him.

"I never thought I'd run into you again. In VR of all places too?" His voice and expression is soft with a friendly smile.

"Yeah...It's been...years hasn't it?"

Chiara watched the exchange closely, her brow furrowing as she noticed the subtle shifts in Emi’s demeanor. Emi, vulnerable? That can't be. It was a side of her friend that Chiara had never seen before, not in the way she was seeing it now. The usually confident and composed Emi seemed almost fragile.

"It's good to see you again Emi. I've heard you've started University right?

"Yeah...the girls on my team all go to the same Uni."

Tomio nodded. "I figured you’d get far in life. You were always motivated Emi." His expression grew more serious, almost hesitant. "I’m sorry I wasn’t around all those years ago... but I want you to know that the door to our friendship is always open. Anytime you want to step back in, I’m here."

"It’s been so long Tomio... I wasn’t sure if you’d even remember me."

"How could I forget? You were my close friend, Emi. I never understood why you suddenly stopped talking to me."

Emi murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, as if speaking too loudly might cause her to break. "I'd...I'd rather not talk about it."

Tomio can see something is up with Emi. He'd rather not prod her anymore than he needs to. It might make this even more awkward than it needs to be. He sighs and then reassures her. "I....I understand."

Looking for a way to ease the tension, Tomio glanced at the rest of Emi’s team, his expression brightening slightly. "You were worthy opponents, and my team has taken quite a liking to you all. You’re welcome to join us anytime we’re online," he added, his voice growing warmer. "Or better yet, stop by my family’s pizzeria. It’s not too far from your university."

"P...Pizza?" Chiara's eyes light up as she feels her mouth watering. "Oh that sounds wonderful!"

"Is it like one of those fancy Italian style pizzerias?" Hikari asks with her interest peaked. "That honestly sounds lovely to me."

"As long as Hikari pays, I'm in." Mai adds to which Hikari sneers back at Mai.

"Emi? Do you think we can use your car and stop by to hang out with them?" Chiara asks as she looks at Emi hoping she would say yes despite her uncomfortable expression so far.

Emi hesitated for a moment, feeling the weight of Chiara's expectations on her. She couldn’t bring herself to say no. She had no reason to let her doubts and fears get in the way of her friends having a good time. She closes her eyes and sighs with a nod as she attempts to relax herself.

"Yeah, I think that sounds great," Emi replies, her voice steadier now. "We could totally use a break after all this."

"Great! And don't worry, the meal will be on the house. Can you all come tomorrow around lunch time?"

Emi nods as do the other girls. "That'll work for us Tomio."

"We'll all be there too! Kimberly adds as she waves towards the girls alongside her other team members.

"I have so many questions to ask you Hikari! Don't keep me waiting okay?"

"Uh huh. Sure." Hikari responds to Fio unenthusiastically.

"I'm glad to see you again Emi."

"Yeah...me too Tomio." Emi attempts to smile as she waves at Tomio's team before everyone de-spawns from the penthouse. Emi, Hikari, Chiara, and Mai are now back in the gun store lobby with Flint behind the counter again.

"Well I'll be. Welcome back girls. How did your first match go?"

"We lost by the last second. No hard feelings Emi." Mai said as she looks at her heads up display showing the amount of credits she earned from the match.

"Yeah. I kind of just was in a bit of a shock. I take the blame for our loss."

"What was up with you and Tomio?" Hikari asks as she looks at her AN-94 which is still clearly jammed from the match.

"Oh...he's....he's just an old childhood friend. It's been so long since I've seen him. He's a good guy. I just haven't seen him since we moved schools, that's all."

"Is he single?"

"I...hm..I don't know." Emi ponders for a while as she recollects her memories to herself. "I mean...we haven't seen each other for so long so I wouldn't know what he's been up to. But we're all going to hang out tomorrow anyways so we'll know soon enough.

"Yeah....tomorrow...pizza~" Chiara dozes off as she thinks about tomorrow."

"You're going to have to socialize with them too Chiara." Emi says with a bit of a caring authoritarian tone with her hands on her hips. "Think of the pizza as a little reward for overcoming your anxieties Chiara. You did well today. On the battlefield and with your social anxiety."

"Oh right!" Chiara chuckles and blushes as she looks at Mai and Hikari. "I had a lot of fun hanging out with you both."

"Hey don't mention it. You did save me in that match. I doubt Mai would have done anything with her museum piece."

"At least my museum piece can handle a bit of sand and mud." Mai sticks her tongue out at Hikari as she cuddles her Type 56 SKS like it's her baby.

"Uh huh, I'm sure you know all about being dirty yourself." Hikari crosses her arms and looks away with a pout. "At least I got a kill that last match."

"Alright you two...that's enough." Emi tries to settle their banter down before things get ugly. "Hey Flint. Can you help bring Hikari's rifle back to working condition?"

"Sure can do." Flint takes a loot at Hikari's AN-94 and inspects it. "Yep, she has sand and stones inside the action. Sorry to say, this beauty is built like a clock inside. It could take a few days to clean her up into working order. But it can be done."

"Oh that's alright I suppose." Hikari sighs. "I guess I have to be careful with letting debris get into the action."

Flint nods, giving Hikari a reassuring look. "You got that right. The AN-94 is a high-tech precision platform. A little sand can go a long way in gumming things up. There's all sorts of springs and even a pulley system."

"Wow, that's some overly complicated mechanical engineering just for a rifle that looks like an AK." Mai comments.

"The only other rifle I know that's more complex than this is the HK G11. I'm lucky I haven't ran into one of those in my gun smithing career. The internals will make your head spin."

"I suppose it would be nice to see one of those for research." Mai ponders as she thinks it might be a good subject to study for her degree plan.

"So are you gonna to be fine with just your P320 Hikari?" Flint asks as he puts the rifle in his backroom to work on later.

"I guess so...but it's just a pistol at the end of the day. I'm not sure if it can hold up on the field.

"Hm....I'll tell you what." Flint eyes flicker as he has a solution to Hikari's temporary problem. Are you familiar with the Flux Raider addon for the P320?

"The Flux Raider addon?" Hikari raises an eyebrow, intrigued. "No, I haven't heard of it."

Flint grins, clearly excited to share his knowledge. "The Flux Raider is a conversion kit for your P320. It turns your pistol into a compact carbine, giving you better accuracy, stability, and a little extra firepower. It doesn't make your pistol any larger so it's still nice and compact. The stock is retractable, it has a extra magazine storage grip in the front for stability and quick mag changes. Only 600 credits.

"Sold."

"Hikari~!" Mai groans as she watches her spend her credits again.

"It'll be a nice accessory for my pistol. I mean we didn't win the jackpot but we got a little extra from the match. Why not spend it?"

"Nope! SKS is fine!" Mai huddles her rifle tighter. "I'm not gonna Bubba him up."

"Afraid of devaluing your museum piece?" Hikari smirks.

"Hikari's right. It's not a bad idea to get some upgrades for our firearms?" Emi notes as she looks at her account on her HUD. Flint. I'd like to make a few purchases before we log off. We have to wrap it up for now and get back to reality. We'll be meeting up on campus tomorrow before heading over to Tomio's."

"Alright alright, but my SKS is fine. I don't need anything else other than ammo."

"I could use a red dot on my MP5." Chiara looks through the selection of optics on the shelf counter.

"Well not to worry. Y'all figure out what you need for your firearms, and I'll be here to answer your question. Until then, I do look forward to seeing you ladies next time."

"Thanks Flint. We'll be back soon enough."

Emi finally exits the game through her UI interface and is immediately out of her dream-like state. She removes her VR headset and wipes her forehead. She's been so invested into the simulation, she feels her body stressed and tired from all the action. As she shuts down her laptop, she looks towards Chiara who is just removing her standalone headset unit. She watches as Chiara unties her ponytail and wipes her glasses with her T-shirt.

"That was pretty fun Chiara. We even made a few local friends. Not bad for our first week of college."

"Hm...oh yeah and you were really amazing up until the end of the match. That was really intense...but I liked it." Chiara smiles as she feels her upper arm. "I haven't felt goosebumps like this since I was doing piano concerts back in high school."

"Did you bring that portable piano from back home?

"No but I have an alternative. Why?"

"Could you play something for me? I think I am going to take a nap in your dorm if it's alright." Emi places her hands behind her head as she leans on Hikari's bedside while sitting on the floor."

"No offense Emi but you kind of stink."

"Oh...um...sorry." Emi lowers her arms feeling a little embarrassed for being called out.. "It's been kind of hot this week."

Chiara gets up from the floor and opens her closet. She pulls out a Korg RK-100S2.

"A keytar?! I was not expecting at all! Chiara, are you going to rock out for me?"

Chiara giggles and shakes her head. "I could if I wanted to. But I figured you want something a bit more relaxing."

"True. Still, that's some good tastes in instruments. A bit retro though."

"Yeah, but I think it's cute and unique." Hikari straps the keytar over her shoulder as she sits on her bed. "Hey Emi..."

"What's up Chiara?"

"You seemed rather awkward around Tomio today. I know you said he was an old friend of yours...but was there more to it than that?"

Emi looks up at Chiara and then nods as she blinks her eyes. "Ah well...I guess I should be upfront about it. Tomio and I were more than friends. We were close friends. Like the way you and I are, but I known him since we were kids. We grew up in the same neighborhood and everything."

"Did you have a falling out with him or something like that?"

"Oh no...it's nothing like that." Emi smiles even though she knows her memories might be a little embarrassing to admit. "Tomio is a great friend. He's never been one to let me down....well...um...well you see..."

Emi tries to swallow her pride before speaking. "Back in my middle school years, I started to have...feelings for him."

"Oh!" Chiara eyes flicker with glee as this is the first time she had ever heard of Emi having a crush on anyone.

"Yeah I know...I know...I'm not exactly without a weakness. I can take a lot of verbal abuse and everything but you know what really broke my heart? Seeing him talking to another girl back then." Emi smirks as she tries to keep up her strong perseverance even though this is a though memory for her to recall. "I mean, I was not brave enough to tell him how I felt. I still don't have that desire to tell him even now."

"So...you separated from him?"

"Yeah...and I kind of went off on him about it without admitting my feelings fo for him. I was a dumb awkward middle schooler. I didn't know how relationships were supposed to work. So I just stopped talking to him. I became a loner. Just like how you were in high school. The only difference is I got my solace from doing track and field."

"You should try to tell him while you have the chance Emi." Chiara suggests as she connects her keytar to an outlet."

"I don't think I can Chiara. That's the thing. What if he's still in a relationship. And it doesn't help that I was the one who broke off the friendship."

"Well maybe you should stop acting like a dumb middle schooler and start acting like the Emi I know." Chiara scolds Emi.

Emi is a bit shocked to receive a schooling from Chiara of all people. Shy little Chiara who would always look up to her for protection from bullies and as her one only friend in high school. "You know what...you're right Chiara. I need to just be honest with him...and apologize for blowing him off like that."

"Heh..that didn't sound right at all Emi."

"Oh now you're trying to be snarky like Mai and Hikari aren't you?" Emi playfully nudges Chiara's leg from the floor. “I had a feelings they’ll start influencing you.”

Chiara laughs for a bit. "No worries Emi. I'm sure Tomio will understand. For now, let me lure you to sleep with some music."

"Yeah...I could use a nice melody to put me to sleep." Emi closes her eyes as she waits for Chiara to play a melody on her Keytar.

"Rather than the typical piano tones you would hear from a piano instrument, Chiara has a preset synth sound on her keytar, set to something like sounds like a bell mixed with a sine wave. A very smooth and soft tone. She places the keytar on her lap so she can use both hands to play. She goes with one of her favorites. "Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, by Frederic Chopin" Chiara whispers before playing the melody for Emi. Her fingers gently waltz on the keys as the smooth synth sounds eases the emotional stress Emi is feeling. Emi feels like she's falling into a dream state again as she slowly dozes off to sleep.

When Chiara finally finishes the song. She looks down at her friend sleeping. A small smile forms on her face as she puts her keytar away.

"That was beautiful Chiara." Emi murmurs in her sleep.

"Thanks Emi. I knew you'd like that one too. See you tomorrow morning."

"Yeah...goodnight Chiara." Emi snores a little as she sleeps.

Chapter 5: Hanging Out With Longhorn Squad

Tomio finishes placing the pepperoni on the pizza which has been layered with tomato sauce and sliced mozzarella. There is a little area in the kitchen with all sorts of toppings in baskets, but he's keeping it simple this time around. He grabs the tray holding the pizza in place as he sticks it into a traditional brick oven heated with burning timber, just as he was trained to do in his family business. Across the kitchen, Fio is preparing drinks with glass cups and serving sweet tea that has already been mixed with sugar.

"So far so good." Tomio checks the oven as the pizza cooks, watching the cheese melt with the tomato and pepperoni slices. "Thanks for helping out Fio. I'm pretty certain our new friends are going to love our little get together."

"Oh it's nothing Tomio. I'm just serving drinks." Fio gushes over the compliment, failing to be humble with herself. "You should totally consider hiring me after this right?" Fio laughs to herself awkwardly.

"I would if you were open to it. How come you never worked Fio?"

"I'm not exactly good anything else other than gaming and computers. I hate to break it to you Tomio but I can't imagine myself being efficient in even the simplest tasks because then I would go crazy."

"You seem to be doing fine with the drinks."

Fio eyes doze off to the floor. "But this is for us Tomio. For Longhorn squad and for the girls of Armadillo Squad. I can't imagine doing this for people I don't know. Strangers just make me uneasy you know.

"We were once strangers to you. Kimberly, Rami, and especially those girls from Uni we played yesterday."

"That's true..." Fio looks back up to Tomio who is still watching the pizza in the brick oven. "But you guys approached me first online. I'm just lucky to live close by."

"Well you never pushed us away. That's pretty admirable Fio."

"You think so?"

I'll make sure to let the others know what you done. They'll appreciate it. And hey Fio..."

Fio turns around to look at Tomio who is leaning by the stainless steel counters next to the brick oven as he continues to wait for the pizza.

"If you ever are interested in working here, I can always vouch you to my boss or coworker. But I understand if you're not ready to start working. I mean, we are all are kind of underachievers right?" Tomio admits with humble self deprecations.

"Thanks Tomio! You're the best! I am sure your lover is lucky to have you around."

"Wh...what?! Lover?!" Tomio stutters. "W...what lover?"

"You said you know that girl from Armadillo Squad...Emi right? I sort of noticed you were very sweet to her yesterday."

"Oh....Emi...Ha...yeah. We're used to know each other since we were kids. Our parents kind of knew each other and that's kind of how we met. I wouldn't say got anywhere close to being lovers. We were just good friends...for while."

"A while Tomio?"

"All I know is that something happened with Emi that caused her to despise me." Tomio shrugs and sighs. "But that was a long time ago. We were in middle school and you know how puberty and all that makes you act up and do dumb shit sometimes."

"Don't feel to bad Tomio. I'm an adult and I still do a lot of things that are cringe and dumb as a NEET."

"That's what you think. You're our squad sapper and technician Fio. I didn't even know there were some quality of life settings for Mil-Sim Story until you told me. I was handicapping myself and getting severely motion sick from VR."

"Oh...haha...well that's just what I know after playing for hours past midnight. Sometimes I just collapse with the headset on and fall asleep in-game."

Tomio chuckles with Fio's honest remarks about herself. "That's the thing Fio, you're incredibly dedicated."

"True but I wish I could dedicate myself to something impressive like Kimberly and Rami are with their band and music." Fio listens as she can hear the two practicing their guitars in the dinning area outside as they wait for the pizza. "They have been playing for so long, they make it look easy."

"Ever thought of joining them? They are looking for a pianist in their group."

"I don't even know how to play anything"

"Can you sing?"

"Um...I sometimes like to sing anime OPs and EDs, but not professionally.

"Nobody starts off as a professional. We all have to start somewhere. And that's what exactly we're going to propose today."

"You're going to propose to Emi?"

"What?! No!....I mean...yes...but it's not what you are thinking. You told me about that competition for the Fall season of Mil-Sim story. I was referring about that."

"Oh yeah. We do need a secondary squad to team up with for the large scale multiplayer maps for the tournament. They seemed pretty good for a bunch of newbies. I especially like that Japanese girl."

"She left that much of an impression on you?"

"Yeah. I never was out played like that before. But I am curious since she's Japanese...like actually from Japan. I always wanted to go."

"Figured. I haven't been there myself. I know some of my family did that's not in my budget at the moment. Besides, the states are my home. I grew up here and everything."

"Yeah. I just thought she was an odd cookie to run into...but a very sweet cookie. I'll try to get to know her better when she gets here with the other girls. I should probably check on Rami and Kimberly. I'm all with the drinks."

"Sure. I think you can go ahead and take the drinks too. Emi and her friends should be pretty soon. Thanks for the help Fio. Talking with you is very entertaining you know. You should take it easy with your anxiety, you got us after all."

"Longhorn squad is all I need Tomio. And maybe the Armadillo girls if they want to team up with us too. I could probably retire into permanent NEETdom if we won that prize money from the Tournament."

"Sounds like a good goal to me Fio. Hm....the pizza is almost done. We gotta hurry before Emi and the others get here."

Emi's eyes are glued on the road ahead of her. Thankfully, it's the weekend and there's no traffic around this time before 12 PM so it's a fairly relaxing drive for her and her passengers. Chiara is ridding shotgun to avoid getting car sick like she usually does with Hikari and Mai riding in the back seat, filling up all four seats of her Mini Countryman. Despite being a smaller SUV, It's incredibly roomy for the girls to sit comfortably. Hikari seems to enjoy having a seat on her own even in the back seat. Most of the girls are dressed casually but with a bit of effort on their looks. Especially Emi who decided to wear a blouse and a skirt for the occasion, which is not something she usually wears.

"It's a bit funny to see you all dressed up Emi." Mai remarked as she looks for a song to stream through Bluetooth on her Android phone. "You sort of came off as a tomboy kind of gal to me."

"I don't usually have a reason to dress up. It's not like I get invited to lunch like this often." Emi smiles back through her rear view mirror at Mai. "I like to be comfortable most of the time. Even when I go to class."

"Yep. Same same." Mai agrees as Hikari scoffs.

"It wouldn't kill you to at least try to dress decently."

"Are you going to take me shopping for some nice clothes Hikari?" Mai smirks at Hikari.

"I don't have a license or a car...and even if I did, what makes you think I would spend my own money to make you look nice."

"Aren't you worried about your own image when you're seen hanging around me?" Mai asks with a bit more seriousness in her tone.

"I think you try thrift shopping Mai." Emi suggests. "It won't break your bank account and you can find some nifty stuff there. This outfit I am wearing is mostly thrift stuff I found for cheap."

"Hmph....imagine that. Buying used clothes. I'd rather..." Hikari murmurs to herself almost wanting to laugh in disgust.

"I think you look very pretty in your outfit Emi." Chiara says to Emi.

"Thanks Chiara. I'm glad you agree."

"Man...I really need to get comfortable with wearing something other than t-shirts and jeans." Mai mutters to herself. "I don't know anything about fashion."

"I can go shopping with you Mai. There's a thrift store not too far off from our campus we can walk to if you're not busy."

"A fine suggestion Chiara!" Mai happily replies. "I can trust your artsy types to help me look better than the guys already think I am!"

"Pffft. As if." Hikari mocking snarls at Mai. "You can count me in too Chiara. I don't want to see Mai still dressing like she's homeless."

"It's called being comfortable over looking good Hikari!"

The girls laugh at the little back and forth between Hikari and Mai. "You two...you both really are an odd couple aren't you."

"I wouldn't even considered Mai's friendship if she wasn't so smart."

"Without me, you would have still been stuck in Precalculus.."

"Why you little gremlin..."

"Alright. That was fun...but were about to pull up for our lunch party. Try to be on your best behavior you two." Emi speaks as if she's talking to her own children.

"Uh....yes..ma'am..." Hikari and Mai reluctantly agree.

Emi pulls up onto a small parking lot. There's plenty of parking space and other than her car, there is a Fiat 500 Abarth and a Ford Transit with curtains visible by the windows on the on the side. The restaurant Itself looks quite small and humble with a stony exterior and little square windows. There is a little overhang by the entrance which has a glass door vaguely hinting at the interior of the restaurant. The door is laser engraved with the address, opening hours, and the name of the business: "Giovanni's".

Emi is the first to enter, gently pushing the door open as the others follow behind her. It's been a while since Emi has been here. Tomio's family restaurant was one she used to frequent when she was younger and closer to to Tomio. Everything is exactly as she remembered. It's a mix of a sports bar with a cafe style layout with little tables all around. Behind the bar is access to drinks and the kitchen area which Tomio has brought Emi to whenever their families would get together. The dining area is warm in temperature and in lighting, just barely enough light to give it a dark contrast but not totally dark to not see anything. The red brick walls are decorated with photos of various Italian landmarks and memorabilia. The bar in particular has photos of Tomio's family history dating as far back to the 1800s. The most recent photo is a photograph of Tomio in a high school graduation ceremony with his mom and dad standing by his side. There's a couple of new additions. There's a flat screen TV at the bar, probably for sporting events and streams as well as a little podium for musical performances. Emi catches a glimpse of two people sitting on stools as they put their instruments away, one acoustic guitars and an acoustic bass. It's the girl with glasses, wavy light brown hair, and a taller Hispanic guy of the same age with long black hair, both dressed in plaid and jeans. "Hey Tomio! The girls are here."

"Perfect! The Pizza is fresh out of the oven. Let's get this party started Kimberly." A voice calls from the kitchen as Tomio and Fio come out from behind the bar, holding drinks and a pan of freshly cooked Pizza. He places the pizza on the bar alongside the drinks which Fio places in front of each stool. "It's good to see you in person again Emi."

"Tomio. You seriously reserved the entire restaurant just for us?"

"Yep. My dad said it was alright as long as we clean up after ourselves. Don't worry about the expenses. It's on the house for now.

"That's really considerate of you Tomio." Emi says a bit flustered. "Thank you. You really did have to go all the way for us."

Hikari, Chiara, and Mai join the bar as do Ramirez and Kimberly. Fio and Tomio grab a stool from the kitchen and eat on the other side of the bar facing everyone else."

"Ah~...it looks so mouth watering...thank you!" Chiara voice gleams with anticipation as she savors the potential taste of the Pizza.

"I have to agree with Chiara. And honestly, I appreciate this warm hospitality. I wouldn't mind paying next time. It's the least I can do."

"Hey, no worries about it." Tomio smiles and starts serving the slices to everyone.

Everyone starts to have their slices and drinks. The girls of Armadillo squad are ecstatic to have such a good meal after their first week of Uni.

"Tomio..this is just as delicious as I remember."

"Aha~....so...good...nomnomnomnom...."

"I have no complaints."

"I'm going to have trouble fitting in my clothes after this."

"We're lucky to be close friends with Tomio." Kimberly adds as she finishes her bite from her slice. We get to have good food and a place to preform on a regular basis. His family is even kind enough to let us park our camper in the parking lot."

"You mean that white van we just saw outside?" Mai seems to have her thoughts confirmed for her. "You...live in a van?"

"The both of us do." Ramirez implies. "I bought it with the money from our performances and our jobs. We don't have to worry about rent or property taxes."

"Van living huh? Shoot...I grew up in a trailer park but that's a whole new concept to me. You're kind of like modern nomads huh?"

"Yeah. You could say we're kind of like that. Neither of us can afford to rent our own place, even together with our expenses so it's the best we can do at the moment." Kimberly explains as she rubs the back of her head a feeling a bit embarrassed."

"It's a bit of a long story...but it's not all that bad. We've got all of the necessities we could realistically need and have just enough space for our laptops and instruments. It did take a while to make it homely."

"Rami and Kimberly just kind of showed up here and started preforming their music." Tomio nods at the two as he sips his sweet tea. "They make our restaurant more lively and they occasionally get tips from our customers. It's just another part of our mutualism other than being avid Mil-Sim Story players. We've played since launch, but nowhere near as extensive as Fio here."

"Heh...yeah...I'm not like the others here. I'm don't really have any hardships of my own...I sort of...um...leach off my parents."

"A Hikikomori?" Hikari asks Fio.

"Well...I usually go by the term used on online forums known as NEET. Not Employed, Educated, or in Training...but I liked the term Hikikomori too." Fio grins almost trying to not fangirl over the fact she's talking to a Japanese girl.

"Well that certainly explains a lot."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I honestly don't know Fio. I have to be honest and admit I'm a bit of a spoil too...as much as I hate to affirm Mai's opinion about my family upbringing.

"Yeah. She's embarrassed to admit her parents own an entire chain of hospitals in Japan. It's kind of funny how she's friends with a lowly bum like me." Mai jokes lightheartedly.

"I wouldn't call you a lowly bum...maybe a hick...but not a bum. You're very smart Mai."

"Aw...thanks Hikari!"

"That's not a compliment. That's just a matter of fact."

"So what are you doing all the way over here in America?" Fio asks Hikari.

"Studying of course. And potentially working my way up the medical field in this country."

"But what's wrong with Japan?"

"What's wrong with America?" Hikari asks Fio back to which she grumbles a little.

"I...well....okay well the thing is?" Fio pauses before making her admission. "It's been my dream to go to Japan someday."

"I suggest finding a better dream." Hikari says bluntly. Fio feels her heart sink a little and it's clear to Hikari that it probably wasn't best to say it like that. "I'm sorry but...it just seems baffling why anyone would want to come to Japan? It's not that special"

"Not special?" Fio tilts her head, looking both confused and a bit disheartened. "Japan has always felt like a fascinating place with a rich culture like anime and vidya, so it seems like a dream destination for someone like me."

"Japan is not like your animes if that's what your looking for. But who am I to say anything about what you should do with your life." Hikari sips her tea and sighs. "It's not like I lived there for most of my life."

"I still want to travel to Japan Hikari. I doubt my parents would lend me enough money since I have a habit of spending it all..."

"Oh great...another whale spender." Mai groans glancing back and forth between Fio and Hikari. "I swear you two are like sisters separated by continents."

"Mai, don't...." Hikari shakes her head. Look, we're both pretty wealthy Fio. The difference is I am doing something with my life. You're a Hikikomori that has to figure out something to do with your life other than sit around and spending money on games."

"But Hikari, you just blew a load of money on some stupid gear that doesn't even work." Mai interjected as a means to tease at Hikari's sense of superiority.

"You bought a SIG P320-Spectre Comp? That's the gun you took me out with. That's a nice pistol."

"It certainly is Fio. Thank you." Hikari smirks at Mai who nibbles on her slice of pizza who looks at her with contempt.

"I use a Laugo Arms Alien. It's one of the newest and most advance pistols in the game."

"Sounds fancy. How much did you buy it for?"

"7000 credits"

"7000 credits?!!! Nani?!" Hikari jaw drops as she blinks her eye. "Mai! Why didn't Flint have one of those? I gotta have one now!" Mai shrugs with no reply.

"It was a limited time sale...so only those who had a lot of credits or saved up for one bought them the moment they came out."

"Aw..." Hikari sips another bit of her tea. "I'll tell you what, if Flint ever gets them back in stock, you tell me about it and I'll teach you Japanese or something."

"Heh...we got a deal then!" Fio smiles as she offers her hand to shake. Hikari shakes it back firmly.

"Good. Okay...you can let go now. You're gripping my hand too tightly."

"Oh...sorry." She lets go and chuckles nervously.

As Hikari, Mai, and Fio engage in their own conversation between each other, Kimberly watches Chiara quietly nibbling on her pizza, her eyes soft with thought. She’s noticed that Chiara tends to hang back during conversations, often listening more than she speaks. Gently prodding, Kimberly leans over. "Hey, Chiara, you're kind of quiet. What’s on your mind?"

"Ah...well not much...I'm just enjoying this pizza."

Kimberly laughs. "It's alright, we don't bite. I'm glad you're enjoying your meal. You told me last time you're a music major right? I figured I let you in on our little act that Ramirez and I have going."

"Are you talking about your band?"

"Yep. I think it would be something interested in expanding your musical resume...so to speak."

"Not that either of us know anything about resumes to begin with." Ramirez says with a shrug.

"That's true Rami. But I think it would be super cool if we could have a pianist preform with us on Friday nights. It won't get in the way of your studies and it's a day before the weekly tournament events for Mil-Sim Story."

"Tournament Events?" Chiara asks curiously.

"Oh...we're getting a bit of ahead of ourselves Kimberly. Tomio." Ramirez calls him over the counter. "You might want to give them the run down of our proposition."

"Well..." Tomio stretches his arms as he prepares to make his offer. "Since everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, I think I should just go ahead with what I wanted to ask you girls. Emi. You're the squad leader for Armadillo Squad right?"

Emi hesitates. "Well... Mai was supposed to be our leader since she's played the game longer than any of us."

"Nah...don't sweat it Emi. You were pretty good with my absence." Mai casually adds, waving her hand in a gentle manner. You got the looks of a squad leader anyways."

"Does that answer you question Tomio?"

Tomio shrugs and nods. "I guess so. Anyways, I thought your team was pretty good for a bunch of newbies. To think you all just met yesterday with each other, yet you managed to pull of a close victory on us."

""I’ve known Chiara since high school." Emi glances at Chiara. "And Mai and Hikari knew each other before meeting us, so we already had some connections. I guess it helps that we all go to the same university."

"I think you girls have something going for you as a squad. Assuming you actually had fun yesterday."

Hikari, Chiara, and Mai nod as Emi looks back at them for approval. "Well, I didn't hate it other than losing to you."

Tomio laughs at Emi's answer. "Ha...well that's understandable. I just thought I'd ask because our team is considering taking the game more seriously starting next week. There's a tournament going on in-game where squads from all over the world will compete to win the fall season championships."

"It's kind of a big deal. Especially if you make it pass the entry matches. It's all on live stream and there's a lot of sponsorships and stuff you can get out of it." Fio mentions to the girls.

"To be more specific, a monetary prize. We didn't compete in the summer tournament event back during the launch of the game, but the 1st prize winner won a total of one million dollars after making it to the top of the tournament ranks."

"I heard about that." Mai interjects much to the surprise of the other girls. Raptor squad won that entire event in one swoop. I saw that last match myself on a stream. Supposedly, they are going to participate in this next tournament as well."

"So you know about the tournament Mai?" Tomio asks.

"Yeah...but at the time, I didn't have a squad to participate myself. Most of the other players didn't take me seriously with my Type 56 SKS." She sighs. "I swear, some people just don't have any tastes. It's always meta this and meta that. But I did see the tournament back in the summer and Raptor Squad is no joke. They would put both of our squads to shame."

"Well. Do know this tournament is going to be a dual squad event?"

"Yeah. It's two squads working together instead of one."

"So let me get this straight Tomio." Emi clears her throat before speaking. "You want to team up with our squad?"

"Bingo."

"But...we're just college girls...I mean the only one who's really knowledgeable about this game is Mai and even she admits it's not something that's possible with the way both our squads operate. Not to mention...we're all trying to study for our classes too."

"Classes shmasses...what about them?" Kimberly scoffs.

Tomio cuts in. "Kimberly. They are serious about their studies. I wouldn't judge them for that if they mean it."

"Sure...whatever..."

"The tournament events are going to be weekly every Saturday. So you don't have to worry about them interfering with your studies. I can promise you that."

"And this one million dollar prize Tomio...?"

"It's going to be split between all of us each Emi."

"Quick. Mai. What's one million divided by eight?" Hikari asks.

"Oh...uh....125 Thousand each." Mai answers after a moment of mental math.

"That's not much...but it can totally cover our entire tuition."

"That's assuming we can even win the tournament Hikari. I am sure your parents can easily just pay it off."

"Sure, but it would be nice to not be a leech off my parent's income for once."

"So what do you say Emi? Would you like to team up with us?"

"Tomio..." Emi ponders as if she should play alongside Tomio's team. "It's been so long since we last saw each other..."

"The past is the past Emi. I'm willing to give you a second chance to be your friend again. Just like old time."

Emi’s expression softens, guilt tugging at her. "You really mean that? I was the one that left..."

"We were dumb middle schoolers Emi." Tomio assured Emi that he's not offended by her behavior from that time. "I think the two of us were just confused from what we were both going through."

"Perhaps..." Emi mummers to herself before looking to Chiara who has been quietly observing the conversation. "Chiara. Would you be down to do this tournament with them? I don't have any reservations."

Chiara looks at Emi...she hesitates a little before nodding her head. "If you are okay with all this...then I am okay too Emi. I had fun the last match...and it would be nice if we could win this together....all of us."

"Then it's settled...Tomio...the girls of Armadillo squad would like to join you for this tournament."

Tomio closes his eyes briefly and grins. "I knew you would accept it Emi. Thank you. Even if we don't win anything, it's just something we can do on the weekends." He opens his eyes to look at Emi. "I really did miss you Emi."

Emi's eyes drift off in shame, but Tomio attempts to lighten the mood.

He gestures to Fio. "Let’s toast to our new alliance."

"You got it Tomio!" Fio says enthusiastically as she grabs the pitcher of tea from the counter.

"We are really doing this Hikari?" Mai asks Hikari with doubt in her voice.

"Of course we are. Our friends offered us a free meal and drinks and you're going to turn down such a fun offer like this?"

"I mean...I always wanted to join the last tournament...but I'm a bit realistic with our capabilities. I don't think we are ready."

"Do you suggest we start practicing or something?" Emi ask Mai.

"It's mandatory. Especially for you all since you haven't been playing as much as I had or Longhorn Squad."

"We can help with that." Tomio suggest as he let's Fio fill up everyone's' cups. "I can spare a Friday night to tell you some of the basics you'll have to know."

"That last match we played together was more of a skirmish." Ramirez added. "The tournament battles are larger, there's more to the battles than just shooting and combat."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. It's a military combat simulation game Emi. You thought it was just Counter Strike in VR? You haven't experienced the full thing yet."

Everyone takes their glass of tea and raises it slightly as they huddle around the bar. "Here's to..." Tomio stops as he realizes something. "Shoot....we don't have a team name."

"Well...normally, a group of three or more squads makes a platoon. So we have to come up with a platoon name for our team name." Ramirez informs the group. "We're all from Texas right?"

"Everyone but Hikari." Mai mentions.

"Mai..."

"How about Lone Star Platoon?" Emi suggests interrupting Hikari.

"That's alright by me." Hikari comments.

Everyone else nods in agreement.

"Great. Here's to Lone Star Platoon! Cheers! Cin cin!" Everyone taps their glass together before taking a sip in celebration of their alliance.

Later that afternoon, after a few hours of casual conversation, pizza, and drinks, it was getting late and the university girls are ready to call it for the day. As the girls say their goodbyes and get ready to head back to Emi's car. Tomio stops by to talk to Emi one last time.

"Thanks for stopping by Emi. It's good to see you again in person."

"Oh Tomio...I should be the one thanking you. To be honest..." Emi leans her back on wall as she relaxes herself a bit. "College wasn't exactly what I was expecting so far, but I'm glad I got my weekend all figured out thanks to you and the girls from my Uni."

"You certainly made some good friends. I mean other than us of course."

"Chiara was the only friend I started this week with Tomio. But I'm glad she's getting some socializing too. She's not as comfortable with most people. I mean...aren't we all like that sometimes?"

"Yeah...was that something you felt when you stopped talking to me back then?"

"No...it had nothing to do with any anxieties I had."

"What caused it then?"

"I don't know Tomio..." Emi knew but wouldn't admit it. "It's just like you said. We were dumb middle schoolers. It was probably puberty or something."

"I'm just glad to have you back Emi. I always thought you were pretty cool."

"Me? Cool? Nah..." Emi scoffs and giggles. "I wasn't cool at all. I just...did whatever I had to do for myself."

"I mean, you weren't like other girls and you got pretty fit over the years too."

"Yeah...I guess so. Thanks."

"But yeah....um don't forget, Friday night, join us in VR so we can help your squad train. Because the following day is going to be our entry match for the tournament."

"Of course Tomio. I won't forget. I look forward to it."

"Oh and Emi..."

"What's up Tomio?"

"You and your friends are always welcome to hang out her again."

"Thanks Tomio." Emi smiles and almost blushes. "You're a good guy Tomio....anyone would be lucky to...."

"Huh?"

"Ah...shoot, I forgot what I was going to say...anyways. I'll see you soon Tomio!"

"You too Emi! Ciao!" Tomio waves back as Emily leaves the restaurant doors. Mai, Hikari and Chiara are waiting outside.

"Is Tomio like...your ex or something?" Hikari asks with a hint of suspicion.

"Wha....N...No of course not. We never dated. We were just childhood friends.

"Yeah...suuurrre...." Mai says smugly as she nudges Hikari.

"Seriously? You two actually agree on something for once and it's all on me?!

"Oh come on Emi..." Hikari grins too. "We're all girls here...you can tell us."

"So this is what I am going to put up with as your squad leader? Keep it up and you two are totally waking home. Come on Chiara, let's drive home."

"Hey wait up!" Hikari and Mai follow suit and enter Emi's SUV after Emi and Chiara had done so.

Chapter 6: Chiara's Second Week

Wednesday, Late Afternoon

Chiara is making the finishing touches to her weekly assignment for her "History of Popular Music" class. It's about the roots of music outside of the professional world, primarily music that would have been played in the beer halls, campfires, or in the streets of American or European cities. It's entirely out of Chiara's own expertise as she's been classically trained for most of her life, especially with all of her piano lessons growing up. It makes her wonder why she has to study popular music in her degree plan. Emi has always criticized her for being harsh on "normal" music. She can recall those times when she would be sitting in the bus with the orchestra or marching band kids back in high school for her various gigs and she would have to suffer through those annoying pop songs on the radio. "What good is all this to me?" Chiara wonders to herself as she finishes her historical essay and submits it on the class blackboard. She looks at the communications tab where the other students can chat with other classmates about the subject matter but so far, it's just the professor and two other classmates that had posted there from a week ago. Chiara moves on and closes the tab on her browser and closes her laptop after powering off.

She looks outside of the window of the library. She's a couple of students walking together, some couples and others with friends. The sun is starting to set and hopefully so will the heat of the day. She grabs her backpack and leaves the library table, not disturbing the others all lined up and doing their own studying without any awareness of the outside world. She heads for the elevator but it's closed due to maintenance. "Good grief." Chiara thinks to herself as she didn't want to use the stairs. "It's bad enough this campus has so many stairs. Stairs to my classrooms, stairs to my dorms, stairs to the Dean, and now stairs here. If I keep this up, I'll be as fit as Emi. It would have been nice to stand up to those old bullies when I'm finally strong." Chiara starts doing little pretend thrust punches in the air as she makes her way to the stairway.

As She makes her way down a narrow stairway from the third floor, Chiara spots something as she descends. It's a short blonde girl, wearing a loose t-shirt and pajama pants, sitting at the corner of the stairway. Her eyes are shut and her face is very pale. Sheets of paper with various mathematical problems, some completely scratched out are laid out on the floor all around her. Chiara recognizes the "corpse". It's Mai. She's on the edge of wanting to scream in terror but her voice, more shaky and nervous as she ever sounded calls out to her.

"M...Mai?"

"The life springs into the girl as she hears her named called. Her dark blue eyes flicker and look up to the red headed girl who woke her up. "Oh....Hey! It's Chiara!" She says pleasantly with a drowsy tone. "Man...what time is it?"

Chiara can feel her heart rate relax as her new friend was just napping in the stairway and not dead as she initially thought. "Oh Mai...it's already evening." She takes out here phone to check the time. "6:24 PM."

"Oh...shit...I must have knocked out here while I was studying.."

"Why were you studying in the stairway Mai? Isn't this a sketchy place to be studying?"

Nah. People come down these stairs all the time. And actually, you proved my point that studying here was a good idea. If I get drowsy and fall asleep here, someone like you would eventually wake me up. If I fall asleep at one of those desks in the upper floors, I would have slept there all night. Hikari would had called the police and assumed I went missing. Trust me...It happened before."

"But couldn't you study in your dorm room or something?"

"Well about that..." Mai chuckles as she rubs the back of her neck. "You see...I sort of lost my dorm key yesterday, so I've been relying on Hikari to keep the dorm open whenever she's there. Right now, she has class all day today so I couldn't go to my dorm even if I wanted to."

"Couldn't you tell one of the resident advisors you lost your key?"

"They'll charge me $5.00 just to unlock the dorm room. $25.00 to replace the key. As if this Uni wasn't robbing me enough as it is. I'm not going to ask Hikari either. She’ll get offended if I ask her for money. Besides, it's my fault that I lost my key. Not her."

Chiara looks down at the sorry state Mai looks at the moment. She looks like she had a rough night and doesn't seem to be well rested. "You need to take care of yourself Mai. You can't be losing sleep like this. It's not right that you have to sleep in the library."

"I know...I know...but.." Mai voice softens as she speaks. It's not a voice she's used to Mai speaking with. "I have a lot of course work Chiara. I had two mini exams this week alone. I got one more at the end of the week that I've been studying for. Hikari says I'm smart but that's not necessarily true. I just study hard."

"Maybe a bit too hard Mai..."

"Yeah..well I don't want to flunk out early. I already had classmates leaving after the first week. They couldn't handle it. Some of them were close to being good friends..."

"Mai..."

"But hey, that's just part of the program." Mai shrugs and smiles as she grabs her notes from the floor. Chiara kneels down to help her out. "My classmates are pretty stressed out about it too. They tell me the same thing that I'm going through. This is all pretty hardcore compared to high school. Back then, I could just autopilot my classwork if I felt like it."

"College shouldn't have to be this stressful. I just finished my first essay for my class. I hardly have to study for my classes."

"We may both go to the same Uni but we're in two totally different worlds Chiara." Mai finishes putting her notes in her backpack. "Thanks Chiara. You're a real sweet and kind soul in this cruel world."

"Oh...it's nothing Mai...I was just worried about you when I saw you here. We're more than just friends. We're squad mates too."

"Yep. We gotta look after each other, and not just in VR." Chiara helps Mai onto her feet "Thanks Chiara. Say, you wanna hit up the cafeteria? I could use some coffee right now."

"Sure. I'm not busy."

"Cool. There's something I want to show you. It's about the tournament."

The cafeteria is not as bustling as it usually is during lunch hour rush. There are rows of tables and booths on one side with various food stalls on the other. There's a couple of small fast food chain booths but unlike the cafeteria food, they charge money while the cafeteria food is included with the dorm fee, at least for 5 days. Chiara has a plate of chicken pattie sandwich and some ice tea. She's seated at one of the tables by herself as she waits for Mai to get her coffee. She sees her come with a large thermos.

"It's a good thing the coffee is free. I always come here early in the morning for refills and it keeps me up for most of the day. This is gonna get me through the night." Mai takes a seat and has a drink. She visibly starts to show some of her life spring back into her. "Ah...that's not bad for free coffee. You don't drink Chiara?"

"Uh...no."

"Oh well. You're missing out. So as I was saying. I've been reviewing all the contestants we might be going up against. I have to say, we probably have a pretty low chance at winning this. But I'm not going to discourage you."

"Is that so?"

"On the contrary, I want to give you a preview of what sort of antics we'll be getting into for the tournament. I am probably going to send this video link to the other girls, but since you're here with me, I'd like to watch it with you if that's alright."

Chiara nods her head. "Of course. What did you want to show me?"

Mai takes out her phone and rests it against the napkin holder on the table. She opens a modified YouTube app on her Android phone and searches for "Final Match between Raptor Squad and Flamingo Squad: Mil-Sim Summer Tournament".

"As the video plays, Chiara notices how quickly the video loads into the content." Wow...isn't there usually an Advert a the start of the video?"

"Hah...not with this app and phone." Mai says proudly. "I can show you if you have an Android phone. But that's for another time, let's watch this. It'll be a learning experience fo you."

"Welcome to the summer finals of Mil-Sim Story's Tournament! I'm your host: Gunny. Joining me here is my co-host and co-developer of Mil-Sim Story: Rookie"

"Thanks for having me Gunny. It's a honor to be here to commentate on this historical match for Mil-Sim Story. It's only been a month since we released the game to the public and reception has been better than we could ever expected."

"Your team must have pulled off a miracle to put out one of the best first person shooter experiences in recent history and now we are here at last to witness the conclusion of the first Mil-Sim Story tournament! It's been a wild turn of events seeing all these teams rise and fall over the past few weeks and now we are down to the very best of the best. Two teams of entirely different schools of operating combined arms warfare!

The stream cuts to a view of a team dressed in pastel blazers, pants, dressy shoes, skirts for the female players, with some wearing light armor vests over their suits, some with modified chest rigs fitted to be discrete under their blazers, but mostly with leather holsters and slings to hold their pistols, sub-machine guns and even a couple of rifles for some team members.

"Starting off with our last contenders is Flamingo Squad lead by Vince. Don't let their flashy style fool you. They have been relentless with their law enforcement style combat involving discrete explosives, hit and run, and ambushes especially in urban environments." As Gunny speaks, there is a montage of some of the squads exploits from previous matches where they are rigging up explosives to cars, shooting down opponents from helicopters and boats, to driving by combatants with a 1986 Ferrari Testarossa.

"I gotta say. I would had never expected such a fashionable team to make it the very end of this tournament, but it seems Flamingo Squad is one of those rare cases where they don't compromise on style over substance." Rookie commented.

"You're right on the money Rookie. As for our other contender for this finale, we have one of the more serious contenders of this tournament so far. One team that has proven time after time again what true coordination and standardization can do."

The stream transitions to another squad. This time, the squad had more modern equipment than Flamingo Squad, with M4A1s tricked out with various attachments, A couple of HK416s, FN SCAR 17, a Barret M82A1, and each member holstering some kind of tricked out Glock 19 Gen 3. Thee team is all dressed identically with skinny jeans, gray jackets, gray plate carriers, with some squad members equipped with bump helmets and others with a simple baseball cap. They have a resemblance to what modern undercover cops or "Gray man" would wear.

"Flamingo squad will be going head on against Raptor Squad! Lead by Seth's Tactical of YouTube fame. A once prominent airsoft competitor now leading a squad of professional gamers in Mil-Sim Story!"

"They are quite the contrast from Flamingo Squad, Gunny. I have to say, it's impressive to see how far Raptor squad was able to min-max their equipment to an extreme extent on some of the most basic platforms but were able to outclass all other squads they went up against." A montage of Raptor squad operating in close quarter battles, deploying from armored SUVs, to gunning down an entire room in mere seconds after breaching are shown as the commentators talk.

"The final match of this tournament will be hosted in this industrial docking yard. A fairly large map with all kinds of tactical approaches for both infantry and vehicles. Everything from long range combat to door to door close quarter combat will put both teams on the spotlight for only one team will come out victorious in this tournament and win the one million dollar prize!"

Both teams are spawned into the map, with half of Flamingo Squad approaching the docks by a speed boat, and two other members driving up to the docks in their sports car. Raptor squad spawns inside one of the dock's warehouses while some of the members drives through the chain fence of the dock from the opposite side. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Let the battle begin! Raptor Squad vs Flamingo Squad! Safeties off! Weapons Hot! GO GO GO !"

Chiara is amazed as she watches the match. It all goes by so quickly. Some of the highlights of the match includes a girl from Flamingo Squad taking out the sniper with the Barret using her M16A2's grenade launcher after landing on the docks, Raptor Squad using the armored SUV as mobile cover as they retreat to another warehouse. The two drivers from Flamingo Squad getting gun downed as they drive the towards the armored SUV but going out with a bang as they sacrifice themselves with an explosive rigged to the Ferrari and taking out the SUV. The end of the match has the remain members of both squads fight it out in close quarters combat. The fighting is fierce and intense with firefights taking place at a room's distance from one another in some cases. The final member of Flamingo squad is outnumbered 3 to 1 and makes his last stand behind a knocked down office desk. He fires his Uzi at the three raptor squad members carefully approaching is cover. He runs out of ammo after taking out one of the members of Raptor squad and quickly drops his Uzi to draw from appendix his 10mm Bren Ten, taking out the second remaining member of Raptor squad in mere seconds before being gunned down by the last member of Raptor Squad who drops him in two shots with his HK416 assault rifle, ending the match in that final showdown.

"It's Over! Raptor Squad wins the round at the last man! Congratulations to Raptor Squad! Mil-Sim Story's Summer Tournament winner!"

"See? Pretty cool huh Chiara?"

"That was intense Mai. Everyone was moving like they knew what they were doing. That match ended in just a few minutes"

"Yeah, and it seems like Raptor Squad is going to participate again the Fall Tournament, alongside a bunch of other teams that want to see them dethroned. However, this time it's going to be a bit different considering it's not just going to be single squads battling it out. The matches will be larger with platoon sizes this time around. I've played a few of the larger matches myself but causally of course.

"I see. So it's not going to be anything like our match against Longhorn?"

"Yeah, I'm talking about tanks, armored personal carriers, artillery, and even night time battles. Small arms won't be enough to win matches anymore."

"Hey Mai. I see Chiara finally found you!"

"Hikari?" Mai looks over her shoulder and sees Mai standing behind her wearing her nursing scrubs. "You got out early?"

"Yeah, for today at least. Oh and I got this for you." Hikari takes out a key from her pocket and places it on the table in front of Mai. "Try not to lose your key again Mai."

"Oh...where did you find it?" Mai says a little surprised as she pockets it into her trousers.

"They were in your sleeping shorts pocket. For some reason, your clothes ended up getting mixed up in my laundry." Hikari says unamused in her expression.

"Wha....oh...right... I didn't mean to...um...did any of my other clothes get mixed up too?"

Hikari sighs. "I think I'd rather talk about it...but you seriously keep your laundry separated."

"Aha.....sorry about that. I guess I got a little drowsy while I was putting my old clothes in the basket. Anyways, I'm gonna head back to my dorm now and sort all this out Chiara. It was nice having a chat with you."

Chiara smiles and nods but has some concern in her tone. "Mhm. I enjoyed our little chat. Oh and Mai...please do take care of yourself. I don't want to see you past out at the library again. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Mai was sleeping in the library?" Hikari asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh...uh...yeah...I kind of did. But I didn't have my key to my dorm so I had to study and well...I was pretty exhausted and had nowhere to sleep."

"You're welcome to stop by my dorm if you ever get locked out again Mai."

"I appreciate it Chiara but I'm not going to lose my key again." She looks at Hikari. "I promise."

"I hope so. Come on Mai. It's getting late. Oh and Chiara...where's Emi?"

"She's still doing laps at the track field right now. We actually don't share a dorm room together unfortunately."

"Well if you do see her, tell her Mai and I said hi." Hikari pats Chiara on the shoulder as Mai gets up from the table. "Thanks for helping Mai out today. I do worry about her sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Mai interjects.

"I mean, who else is going to tutor me on those dumb math classes I have to take for my degree."

"Just work on all the textbook's problems, not just the one your assigned Hikari."

"Yeah but there's better things I'd rather do with my time. I'm a nurse, not a math or engineering major."

"You would not survive a week in any mechanical engineering class."

"I wouldn't torture myself like that Mai."

"Consider yourself lucky."

"My major isn’t any better Mai. I have a lot of memorization I have to do with my nursing program."

"Well I hope the best of luck to both of you." Chiara remarks.

"Thanks Chiara. I'm glad we got someone rooting for us." Hikari smiles as she speaks.

"Yeah, pray for us because we really need it. It would be a damn shame if either of us dropped out."

Mai and Hikari wave goodbye to Chiara as they all leave the cafeteria and head off to their separate ways. Chiara feels a light tingle in her heart and a small smile forms on her face. She had not only socialized with Mai and Hikari successfully but she also came to help Mai when she dozed off in the library. For the first time in her life, she feels like she's been useful and not a burden. "Emi would be proud" she thinks to herself.

At the same time, she's also intrigued by what Mai had shown to her at the cafeteria. She knows Armadillo Squad and Longhorn Squad are going up against some serious competition. Mai doesn't seem to have that much confidence in their team but at the very least, Chiara is hoping it might be something fun to try, even if they don't make it past the first elimination round. It seems like her second week of university is going better than expected.

Chapter 7: Getting The Squad Together

Several Months Ago

The local aquarium was a favorite location for Emi and her younger brother Claude. Especially around the afternoon weekends when it’s not particularly busy, giving Emi and Claude some quiet time together. The tranquil sound of the tanks with all sorts of colorful tropical fish from a regional part of their world is not something they would normally see even when they both take trips to the beach. The underwater tunnel just so happened to be the newest addition to the aquarium so they both had to see it. The tunnel goes through a larger tank with a view from the second floor and the sea floor with a model wrecked ship where various aquatic life can take shelter. A nurse shark swims across the horizon of the underwater tunnel as Emi pushes her brother's wheel chair through the tunnel, going slowly and eventually stopping to admire the exhibit together.

"I really like what they did with this exhibit." Emi comments as she gently caresses her brothers shoulders with her hands.

"Mhm. Yeah, it's pretty cool." Her brother turns his head to look at Emi. "Coming here eases my mind Emi. I appreciate having you with me while you are around."

"Are you nervous about me leaving for college? I'll still text and call you form time to time to see how you're doing in high school. We can even do VR if you like. What kind of sister would I be if I didn't check up on my brother regularly?"

"I know, but it'll be my first year of high school soon too."

"A first for everyone huh?" Emi smirk as she ruffles her brother's hair lovingly. "I wouldn't worry too much about it Claude. High school isn't all that scary. Middle school was worse in my experience. High school kids tend to be chill for the most part. Nobody is going to pick on you."

"I hope so." Claude watches an Moray eel come out of hiding from the wreck ship and swims past them. "Hey Emi."

"What's up Claude?"

"Do you think I might find love in High School?"

Emi chuckles but not in a harsh way. "Well, that depends. Who are you looking for?"

"I'm not so sure. I don't think I would be very appealing to girls in my condition."

"That's nonsense Claude. Girls aren't that superficial and if they are, they aren't worth your time." Emi reassures him as she crouches down next to him with her arm around her shoulder. "A girl worthy of your time will love you for who you are. Honestly, I think any girl would be lucky to date you."

"You're just saying that because you're my older sis."

"Heh...maybe. But you're my precious little brother. I want the best for you no matter what. I'm sure you'll find someone." She gently squeezes his shoulder."Most of your friends from middle school think you're alright. That's a step up from my experience going into high school."

"But what if the relationship doesn't work out?"

"You have to find someone else if that case. Don't settle for anyone who won't accept you for who you are. The last thing you want is to end up like our parents. Even adults can be idiots." Emi's voice sounds a bit pained as she speaks. "But we don't have to be like them, do we Claude?"

"You're right Emi. We know better right?"

"I would hope we are."

"You don't sound so sure of yourself Emi."

"To tell you the truth, I'm a bit nervous about starting Uni soon too. I have my friend Chiara but not much else."

"Are you still going to do track and field Emi?"

"Of course. I'm going to try to be best runner for you Claude. I'll make you and my future university team proud!"

Emi hugs her brother tightly. "My poor little Claude. I'm going to miss you so much."

Present Time: Friday Morning

"Well done girls, your lap time has improved from last week. Next week is the examination trials. So far nobody has met the required lap time to be part of the track team so keep working on it." the coach announced to the group of freshmen, including Emi. The coach, an older woman with sharp eyes, was accompanied by two upper class track team members, both with arms crossed and disinterested expressions.

Emi's legs are sore and exhausted. She gave it her all this morning and managed to beat her previous lap time. But she can see the upper class girls looking down on all of them. It's as if they were writing them all off. The freshmen track girls disperse, Emi heads to her dorm, carrying her water jug, towel, and bag of extra clothes so she can shower and get ready to met up with Emi, just like last week.

It seems like all of the confusion, uncertainty, and anxiety of the first week has mostly subsided. Emi has found her groove with her Psychology classes, her track and field practice, and now her second life in VR where she'll be leading her own squad in a tournament that Mai believes they have no chance of winning. When she gets to her dorm and steps into her shower. The shower head cools off her warm body, easing the tension in her muscles as she ponders deeply about whether she should even stress out about it. It's just a game after all. It's just something she can do for fun with Chiara and the other girls she befriended. Not to mention Tomio and his group of friends too.

Tomio. She can't believe she ran into him again. He certainly looks better than she remembers from her middle school days. Emi hates to admit it but deep down inside, she really did miss him all these years. She recalls the text she got earlier this week from him: "Let's meet up in Mil-Sim Story on Friday at 5 PM for training. My squad and I will help you out."

She sighed, letting the water wash away her worries. She shuts off the water valve and dries herself with her towel. She quickly gets dressed in some comfortable clothes and heads out to find Chiara so they can have lunch together, just like they did last week.

The UC and Cafeteria is packed more than usual this time around. Emi has to navigate around a bunch of booths from various clubs as she makes her way to the cafeteria. Chiara stands out from the crowd in her button up white shirt, red bow tie, and khaki sweater. Doesn't she feel too hot in that? Surprisingly, she's not alone. Mai and Hikari are with her too. "Emi!" They all shout with smile on their faces.

Emi walks up to the Chiara and the other girls. "Surprised to see us? Chiara invited us." Hikari mentions as she nods to Emi. "We gotta meet up IRL too...Sergeant" Mai says jokingly.

"Seriously?" Emi says baffled.

"Yeah. Reporting for mealtime Sergeant Emi!" Mai stands at attention and salutes Emi. Hikari shakes her head in embarrassment while Chiara giggles.

"For some reason, I don't think I earned such a high ranking yet. We haven't even done our training yet."

"Heh. You better get used to it....Sergeant." Mai lowers her salute and smirks.

"Just call me Emi. We're friends after all."

The girls find a table at the cafeteria and discuss their week as they have their lunch together.

"It's been really busy this week." Hikari notes with a sigh in her voice. "I've been doing all nighters studying. Mai had it pretty bad this week too."

"I still managed to ace those exams." Mai spouts proudly. "I thought it was worth it."

"Everything good so far Chiara? No problems?" Emi ask as she watches Chiara munch on her salad.

Chiara swallows and nods. "Oh...yeah. I think I got the hang of college. I finished my assignments early. No bullies so far."

"Just fight them off if anyone tries to bully you Chiara." Mai suggests as Hikari shakes her head again.

"This isn't high school Mai. We aren't savages."

"Well if there's any problems with anyone, let me know Chiara. I won't let anyone hurt you." Emi smiles as she drinks her cup.

"Are you holding up too Emi?" Mai asks.

"For the most part. Track is another story. I don't even want to think about it."

Chiara frowns as she hears Emi. "Has it been rough?"

"Yeah. I guess you can say that. But no worries. It'll work out I hope."

"Ugh...it's so packed today." Hikari complains.

"Yeah no kidding. They are having Activity Fair today." Mai remarks as she chows down on her burger. "Mmm...as if I have time for those things."

"Aren't you in ASME already?" Hikari notes.

"By default I am. What kind of mechanical engineering student doesn't join ASME? It's practically part of the degree plan. It still beats....oh no...." Mai groans as she sees two girls in matching pastel shirts, holding a clipboard and bright smiles on their faces.

"Huh?" Emi didn't expect the sorority girls to approach their table. She notices Mai's shift in mood as the sorority girls approach them.

"Hi there!" one of the girl chirps. "Are you ladies interested in joining a sorority? We're from Delta Phi, and we're always looking for..."

"No thank you!" Mai scoffs.

The sorority girls have a shocked look on their face, but try to continue. "Being part of a sisterhood can really enrich your college experience! You'll make lifelong friends, gain leadership skills, and..."

"Yeah yeah..." Mai waves her hand dismissively. "And then you all get into your robes in a basement and start swearing oaths to some ancient deity. I know how your kind works."

"Mai! What are you saying?!" Hikari nudges Mai feeling quite uncomfortable by Mai's statements.

The sorority girls exchange awkward glances, but one of them tries to keep her composure and continues her sale. "Uh... no, it’s really just about sisterhood and supporting each other through college. We host charity events, and..."

"Oh don't even get me started on the hazing rituals! They brand you with a hot iron and blackmail you so you can't leave the cult. Do you ever wonder why some of the most powerful people in America are all former fraternity and sorority members? Connect the dots people!"

"Mai.. you're embarrassing us." Chiara and Emi find the whole ordeal more amusing more than anything as they hold back their laughs.

One of the sorority girl tries to reassure the girls as she clears her throat "Well, that's just a terrible stereotype. We don't do hazing. Our university has a strict no-hazing policy and..."

"Yeah...suurrreee......look my friends here other than Hikari are broke ass students so you might as well take your cult somewhere else. I'm not low enough to pay for fake friends. I got my real friends all right here!" Hikari's eyes doze off to the side as she pretends to not be part of Mai's outburst.

"Um...well...if you ever change your mind, we have our booth right outside the UC. Uh......have a good one..." The sorority girls awkwardly leave their table.

As the sorority girls leave, Mai cross her arms as if she's victorious. "Good riddance, girls...I just saved you all from the cult of Moloch."

Emi and Chiara are now both snickering as they can no longer hold in their laughs while Hikari is trying to hide behind her hands. "Seriously Mai, why do I even hang out with you?"

"You know I am right Hikari. First it's the drama club in high school, then it's the fraternities and sororities, then it's the Bohemian Grove wearing owl masks and shaking hands with the Freemasons. I'm telling you Hikari. It's all part of training the next generation of evil overlords."

"Do you even know what you are saying Mai? Ugh...forget it." Hikari slumps in her seat. “Why do I put up with you Mai?”

"Besides, we got our own group here. The Armadillo Squad! Instead of wearing stupid tie-dye shirts and doing dumb cult crap, we all wear military gear and play with guns in VR. We’re like a tactical sisterhood, way cooler than those sorority girls."

"Oh about that..." Emi remembers. "Don't forget, we're all going online at 5PM. Tomio and Longhorn Squad will be there too to help us out since we'll all be working together."

"Works for me." Mai replies.

"Yeah...me too I suppose." Hikari murmurs as she slowly uncovers her face from her hands.

"What kind of training are we going to do, Emi?" Chiara asks.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure." Emi remarks.

"Actually, there's quite a lot we have to learn before we can compete in the tournament. But you'll all figure it out once we meet up for training. I sort of already have my skills figured out."

"Of course she does." scoffs Hikari.

"You betcha. I usually play sapper in the more serious game modes.

"Sapper?" Emi eyebrow raises.

"Yeah, we all gotta pick our classes before the tournament. It's basically a set of skills, abilities and kit we specialized in to help our squad and platoon out when we are out there in the virtual battlefield. Like you're our squad leader by default Emi so you'll have your own abilities and so forth."

"So we can pick and choose what we want to be?"

"Within reason Chiara." Mai answers. "You seem like the quiet sneaky type so I think you would be great as a scout or recon. Especially with your suppressed weapons." She then looks at Hikari and winks at her. "You can be our squad medic....nursing major."

"I really going to practice my trade in VR huh?" Hikari says nonchalantly.

"You helped me patch me up in that match against longhorn squad, I'd say you're already halfway there." Emi assured her.

"Hmm....I suppose..."

"So 5 pm then?"

"Yeah. And uh...just one more thing." Emi looks at each of the girls before speaking. "I know this is just something we are doing for fun...but let's try to do our best. It would mean a lot of if we could actually accomplish something together."

"I'm with you Emi." Chiara speaks up.

"Count me in." Hikari joins too.

"I'm not optimistic in our success...but sure...why not?" Mai is the last to pitch in.

"Good, let's not embarrass ourselves in front of Longhorn squad again." Emi suggests. "I'll see you all in VR soon."

Chapter 8: Welcome to Basic Training

Flint's Gun Store, 5 PM

"Welcome back girls. Y'all are actually serious about competing in the Fall tournament from what I heard?

"I guess so. Who told you Flint?" Emi asks as she waits by the counter along with Hikari, Mai, and Chiara.

"The members of Longhorn Squad were here earlier and told me everything. They are waiting for you at the training field. But before you head out, there's some stuff you reckon with first." He heads to back room and brings out Hikari's AN-94.

"It's done already?" Hikari enthusiastically reaches her hands out for her rifle.

"Sure is, but it was a pain in the butt to get it cleaned and lubed up. I don't recommend getting her dirty again. Keep the bolt closed and wipe away any debris before charging the bolt and you should be fine. She's quite sensitive just a heads up."

"Thank you Flint. I'll won't get my rifle jammed again."

"Oh it's no biggie, but there's another thing I gotta get you girls since you are going to compete in the tournament." He takes out a box from behind the counter. The box flaps open, revealing four matching sets of plate carriers in coyote brown, each equipped with universal magazine pouches, grenade pouches, MOLLE radio holders, and various other storage compartments. On top of each carrier, there’s a pair of black fingerless gloves and combat boots. But what really catches the girls’ attention are the custom patches: an armadillo holding a rifle, ready for action.

"How cute!" Exclaimed Emi as she picks up one of the patches, admiring the embroidered design.

Flint chuckles, watching them admire their new gear. "Tomio and his crew already got their own kits sorted out, so he figured y'all should have your own gear too. I got some fatigues in the back you can wear under those carriers, so you won't be runnin' around in civilian clothes on the battlefield."

"Oh...we get to pick our own fashion?"

"Nothing fancy or outrageous Hikari." Mai warns Hikari. "We have to be practical about our clothes. Your last outfit was burned up in the last match remember?"

"But that doesn't mean we can't be cute can we?" Chiara asks as she browses through some of the clothes on a rack.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you.

After the girls pick out their outfit, they are then teleported to the training zone. It's your typical boot camp layout with an obstacle course, a small wooden building labeled "The Kill House", and various dirty tracks where an APC and tank are positioned with red painted X's on various points on the armor. The girls look over at the bleachers not far from their position and see Tomio and his squad, all dressed in dark woodland green fatigues. Tomio stands out of the group with his red beret indicating his squad leader role in the group.

"Looking good Armadillo Squad!" Kimberly shouts from the bleachers.

Emi and the others wave back with smiles on their faces. "Tomio! It's good to see you again!" She calls back from the field.

Tomio gave her a little salute. "We wanted to watch you all train. I bet it's going to be real entertaining!"

"We'll see about that Tomio!"

Mai could not hide her growing frustration as she stared at her teammates, especially Hikari and Chiara. She crossed her arms and sighed, clearly unimpressed with their outfit choices. "Skirts?" Seriously? You think we're going to a concert or something?"

"Kimberly and Fio are wearing skirts too." Chiara notes as she points out the girls sitting at the bleachers."

Mai shot a quick glance at the other girls in Tomio's squad. Sure enough, Kimberly and Fio both sported skirts, looking completely at ease as they lounged on the bleachers smiling at them. Mai sighs."Yeah but..."

"It's more comfortable for us Mai." Hikari mentions as she bends her legs in place to prove her point.

"You could have just worn shorts like Emi." She glanced at Emi, who was stretching in her khaki tank top and black athletic shorts, looking like she was about to hit the track rather than a combat zone "These cargo pants aren't bad either." Mai does some squats to counter argument. "Plus I am not going to flash my panties by doing this.

Hikari stifles their laughter. "We’ll be fine. No one’s going to be looking. We're all girls here."

"Whatever. Oh and just a heads up. Respawns are enabled for this training map so don't worry about getting hurt during training. You all already know that you can't feel pain when you are shot in the simulation." Mai changes the subject as she addresses the girls. "I've done the obstacle course before, it's not too bad."

"That's reassuring to know." Emi nods and smiles after Mai informs them.

A small smirk forms on Mai's lips before speaking. "Also, instant respawn is enabled so I can do this." She aims her Type 56 SKS at Hikari and shoots her in the head, knocking her out instantly. Hikari's ragdoll lays on the floor before disappearing the moment Hikari respawns again in the same spot.

"Mai! What the hell is wrong with you!" Hikari scolds Mai before she gets shot again with her SKS, making her plop onto the ground unconsciously again only to respawn a second time. Mai is laughing uncontrollably. "This isn't funny Mai. I just got a "Betrayal" achievement because of you." Hikari growled, lunging at Mai to wrestle the SKS from her. The bleachers erupted into laughter, Tomio and the rest of Longhorn Squad barely able to contain themselves.

"What the bloody hell is going here?!" A stern voice with a British accent calls out from nearby. "Am I going to be training soldiers, or a bunch of drama club kids?!"

Hikari and Mai freeze as they see a tall authoritative figure approaching them. Emi and Chiara stand at attention with their rifles instinctively. The man has a green officer's uniform, a beret, a classic brown bushy mustache that makes him look like the Pringles mascot and an eye patch covering his eye.

"Well what do we have here!? The lot of you ought are acting like a bunch of battle royal players. That's rather embarrassing isn't it?!"

"Sir Yes Sir!" Emi shouts back loud and clear.

"Sir?!! Sir?!!! Who's Sir!!!?" The drill instructor snapped back furiously. I'll have you know I am not Sir! I am Drill Sergeant Perry! You shall refer to me as Drill Sergeant for now on or I'll make damn sure until it's stored in your small brains of yours. Is that understood everyone?!"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" The girls shout. Longhorn squad is snickering at the bleachers.

"It's about to get pretty entertaining." Kimberly whispers, nudging Ramirez beside her with her elbow.

"Yeah but it's for their own good." Ramirez notes as he crosses his arms and watches them quietly. “Everyone has to go through this before participating in the tournament.”

"Now then! I'm going to do roll call for...Armadillo Squad. Is that your squad name?!

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!"

"Right." He takes out a small notebook and a pen from his pocket. "God, what a silly name..." He grumbles to himself but just audible enough to hurt the girl's ego. "Oi! You there! What's your name?!" He points to Emi.

"I'm Emilie Cadieux! Emi for short, Drill Sergeant!"

"My God, what's with the outfit? Are you a runner or something?"

"I do track and field, Drill Sergeant!"

"Well you better hope that running experience isn't going to be used to run away from the battlefield. You're not a coward aren't you?"

"No, Drill Sergeant!" Emily responded firmly.

"I doubt it. For now on, your call sign is Trackstar. You better be sure to live up to that name. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!

The Drill Sergeant twitches his mustache as his attention moves onto Chiara. "You there. Tell me your name.

"Ch....Chiara.." Chiara murmurs.

"What?! I can't hear you?!!" Drill Sergeant Perry barks as he leans aggressively close.

"Chi...Chiara!" She finally shouts but her voice is shaky and her body twitches nervously.

"I STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU! TELL ME YOUR NAME!"

"CHIARA LORENZ!!!"

"Either I'm becoming deaf due to my age or your one of the most timid and soft spoken player I ever had the misfortune of knowing and considering I'm just an NPC so I'm placing my bets on the later. You're so quiet, not even a flea can hear you. I suppose that means you're the perfect fit to be a scout. Quiet as a Mouse. So small and unassuming the enemy won't even know you are there. Henceforth be labeled as Mouse. Is that clear?"

Yes Drill Sergeant!" Chiara feels a little bit of pride for her role and her call sign even if it's supposed to be insulting to her shy nature.

Drill Sergeant Perry then walks over to Hikari who is standing in attention but still a bit ruffled up from her little rumble with Mai. "You there! Give me your name!"

"Hikari Nakamura, Drill Sergeant!"

"That's a fine rifle you got there. Your pockets must be rather deep to be able to afford that fancy gear, Hime. Well let me tell you something. No amount of money is going to going to stop some poor sod with some rubbish AKM from eliminating you and your posh equipment!"

"I told you so..." Mai interjects casually.

"Did I ask you to speak?! Drop and give me ten right now!" He shouts furiously at Mai as she gets down onto the floor and starts doing push ups. His attention focuses back onto Hikari. "So you insisted on being the squad medic, Hime?"

"Yes Drill Sergeant!"

"Fair enough." He writes down on his clipboard before turning his attention to Mai who had just finished doing her push ups. "You...You're a load of trouble Mai Keighley, especially considering your height isn't the only short coming about you."

“Well, Drill Sergeant, I like to think I make up for it with personality.”

Drill Sergeant Perry snarls at Mai as he looks down on her. "If you really think you're going to breeze through this training with your new squad just because you've done this before, I got some news for you, Boomer." He snaps his fingers and a RPG-7 with a backpack of rockets spawns on Mai's back which causes her to almost lose her balance while standing at attention.

"You're the squad sapper, but you're also going to be the squad's anti-tank specialist! So you better start acting like it, Boomer! It's bad enough your rifle is older than the science used to program this simulation."

"Yes, Drill Sergeant." Mai groans as she feels her mobility strained by the extra weight on her back.

"Now then, it's about time we quit messing around and get on with training shall we?

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" The girls say in uneven unison.

Chapter 9: Lesson 1: Physical Training

"My goodness look at you. Other than Trackstar, none of you even look like you have the potential to handle battlefield conditions." Drill Sergeant Perry taunted, his voice dripping with disdain as the girls lined up in front of the obstacle course. The course starts off with a few vaults, some of which can be jumped over with relative ease before getting to a low wall which must be vaulted over. There is a tunnel that any kid would be enthusiastic to crawl through before reaching the monkey bar obstacle which must be used to cross over a ditch of mud. Afterwards, there is a barbed wire field which must be crossed by crawling under the wire. A few solders with machine guns stand at the ready who are clearly aiming just above the wire once the girls start crawling through the wire. Past the wire, an imposing observation tower rose tall at the end, and despite its lack of a ladder or apparent way to climb it, Emi couldn't shake the feeling that they’d need to scale it somehow. Otherwise, the course is going to be a breeze for her. She doesn't know how her squad mates will prevail. This is all a simulation after all but the girls would have to be quick to commit to physical actions. It might as well be the real deal.

"Trackstar! You're the team leader so set the example for your squad mates who will follow you lead. Prove to me your so called track experience and I might set my doubts aside. The rest of you better keep up or you'll be in the shitter. Understood?!"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" The girls answer clearly.

"Right then, on my mark..." He prepares his digital timer on his hand. "Trackstar, Get a move on!"

Emi sprints through the obstacle course, getting through the vaults like a natural. It's all of the familiarity of doing track. Chiara, Hikari, and Mai follow suit in that order but other than Mai who wishes she could rush ahead has to slow down as Chiara and Hikari make it through the vaults in a very clumsy manner. Their skirts certainly don't make it easy. "Come on! Hurry it up ladies! Move like your life depends on it! If this were a real battlefield, you'll all be left behind by your squad leader and left for dead!"

Emi and the others eventually make it over the low wall. Emi dives down into the grown and crawls through the tunnel as quickly as she can, using her elbows and feet to push her quickly through the tunnel. Chiara doesn't have any issues going through the tunnel surprisingly enough as her small frame gives her plenty of room to quickly get through the tunnel. Hikari is next followed by Mai who is right behind her when they crawl through the tunnel. "Nice panties, Hikari," she teased, her voice barely audible over the sound of shuffling feet and scraping elbows. Hikari’s face reddened with fury, and without hesitation, kicks Mai in the face with the force of her boot, giving her mild damage to her health bar on her heads up display. Mai groans as she holds onto her nose. "Ow!...Can't take a joke? Jeez" Mai finally gets through the tunnel with a quarter of her health depleted.

The monkey bars were next and Emi was able to get across them with ease. She has fond memories of playing in the playground with Tomio as a child and the monkey bars were one of Emi's favorites. She pulls through the bars like a natural, crossing over the mud pit and plants her feet at the end of the mud pit. When Chiara makes her attempt over the bars, she struggles, trying to hang onto the first bar while attempting to let go of one hand to reach the other bar, she loosens her grip and starts hanging with one arm, unable to get her other arm to the other bar before completely falling into the mud pit. "Oh Christ, you didn't even make it half away. Get out of the mud and try again Mouse!"

Chiara gets up from the mud pit, crawling out of it back onto dry land, she's completely drenched in mud and can only wipe her hands on the ground before attempting to cross the bars again. She tries to move her arms with more force and meaning when she grips onto the first bar and then lets go to quickly grab a hold of the next bar and slowly but surely she starts to learn the motion. "That's it...now hurry it up, Mouse!" Hikari and Mai have to wait for Chiara to get across first. Hikari does not want to end up dirty as Chiara so once she's across, Hikari follows the same method as Chiara going slow but steady, eventually getting to the other side of the mud pit. Mai done this before and gets across albeit with the extra weight of her RPG-7 launcher and rocket bag which weighs her down significantly.

The barbed wire obstacle is next. Emi gets down in the prone position as she did with the tunnel obstacle and starts crawling the moment she gets under the barbed wire, the machine gunners with their M240Bs begin to open fire just barely over the wire. The loud crack of the gunfire and whizzing of bullets just above her startle Emi enough to stop in her tracks. "Hey...Hey! Why are you stopping Trackstar?! Don't worry about my machine gunners! Keep your head down and you won't have to deal with a respawn. Hurry it up!" Emi takes the Drill Instructors words into consideration and continues to crawl under the barbed wire. Her clothes are starting to get dirt from the ground and all of the debris from the machine guns firing just above her. It's bit more stressful than she imagined, but it's not the first time she's been under fire in this game. The other girls see Emi getting through without any problems and crawl through successfully as well. Except for Mai who gets her RPG-7 Launcher stuck on the barbed wire at one point while she's crawling. "Watch your equipment! If my machine gunners hit your rocket propelled grenades, you're going to make a mess of yourself and my obstacle course!" Mai lifts her hand just slightly above to move the barbed wire off her RPG launcher and quickly squirms over to the other girls waiting at the base of the observation tower. Emi's eyes are focused on the top of the observation tower. She doesn't show it but she's starting to feel a little anxious about what's to come next.

"Looks like you ladies managed to get through my obstacle course. I wouldn't say you were particularly fast. My Nan could get through the course faster than any of you. Let’s be honest here; I'm probably expecting too much from you." The Drill Sergeant is firm and condescending with his praise. Now then." He points to the top of the observation tower. "We have to get to the top of that observation tower. But God blimey, someone forgot to give us a ladder! Do you want to know why there isn't a ladder?"

"Tell us Drill Sergeant!" The girls reply in unison.

"There's no ladder because battlefield conditions will not always be straight forward. This isn't an arena shooter where every path is seamless...and I swear.." He eyes glare towards Mai with her red nose from where Hikari kicked her. "If Rudolph here thinks she can just rocket jump her way to the top with her RPG...then that would be rather amusing to see even though we both know that will fail miserably. Am I right Booomer?"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant." Mai groaned, still holding onto her nose in agony.

"But lucky for you ladies, you have a scout in your squad. Mouse! Come here for a moment, you're going to receive an early Christmas present today. Perhaps a few actually." Chiara walks up to the Drill Sergeant as he offers her a rope with a grappling hook attached. She takes a hold of the grappling hook and rope from him.

"Thank you Drill Sergeant!" Chiara walks back to her previous spot next to Emi and the other girls.

"As a scout to Armadillo squad, your specialty is all about infiltration and movement, and even though you'll will be operating alone for most cases, sometimes your equipment can be used to help your squad get across impassible terrain which makes you an essential part of the squad. That grappling hook is just one of the tools you'll be provided with to help your squad. Now, let's see you throw that grappling hook to the top of that observation tower. Make sure you find a spot for your hook to latch onto securely because you and your squad will climb that rope all the way to the top. Get on with it!"

Chiara steps forward with the grappling hook in her hands. She takes a deep breath before swinging the grappling hook over her head. With a forceful trust, she throws the hook into the air as it lunges over the railing of the observation tower. The hook latches onto the railing once she tugs it, insuring a steady latch. Chiara does a little jump and makes a soft "Yes" from her successful attempt.

"Nice throw Chiara." Hikari remarks with admiration.

"Well done. I wasn't expecting you to do it on the first try. Now lets see if it's sturdy enough to climb to the top." The Drill Sergeant moves over to the rope and starts to climb his way up. If I fall, your paying for my medical expenses Mouse."

"Understood Drill Sergeant!." Chiara says proudly as she watches the Drill Sergeant easily make his way up the rope to the top of the observation tower. He looks down from above before shouting. "Well I didn't fall to my death, that's promising. Alright Mouse! Get up here! The rest of you follow her lead!"

Chiara starts climbing up the rope. She's feeling incredibly confident with her new ability. She doesn't even show any restraint as she makes her way up the rope. It's been a long while since Chiara had felt her confidence this high. Once she makes it to the top, she looks over the edge and waves down to the other girls as she calls out "I made it!" Drill Sergeant Perry nods approvingly as he awaits the other girls to get up.

Emi gulps before going up the rope next. Climbing isn't really an issue for her as she has the strength to pull herself up. But the entire time she's climbing, she's keeping her eyes up towards the sky. "Don't you look down Emi...don't you look down....don't look down....don't look down." Emi echoes in her mind as her nervousness starts to get the better of her. She eventually makes it to the top but that's just the beginning of her problems. She stands up in the observation tower with Chiara and the Drill Sergeant. Her eyes peak over to the side and she notices how high above the ground she is which causes her face to nearly go pale as Chiara's skin.

"Emi...are you alright?" Chiara asks noticing an usual look to Emi's expression.

"Y..yeah....It's nothing...don't worry about me. I'm good."

Hikari and Mai make their way up without any issues. Once all of the girls are up on the observation tower, they all look over to the bleachers and wave to Longhorn Squad who is watching their progress from the ground level.

"It's a pretty lovely view up here isn't it Emi." Hikari asks as she looks over the edge.

"Uh...yeah....it is." Emi says in a uneasy voice.

"Alright ladies, this isn't a scenic field trip. We have to get ourselves down. But we aren't going to use the graphing hook this time. Mouse, here's your next tool of your trade. On the corner of the observation tower, the drill instructor grabs what appears to be a crossbow and a bag of different kinds of bolts.

"A...crossbow?" Chiara sounds a little confused as she takes the bag of bolts and the composite crossbow.

"Yes. A crossbow. It's more than just an antiquated weapon. You can take out enemy combatants with standard bolts if you want to give them a medieval take down but there's more versatility with a crossbow that you can get out of it compared to your standard firearm. You can fire explosive bolts to take out group of soft targets. A nice advantage of the crossbow is the fact that it is going to be significantly quiet compared to suppressed firearms which might come in handy when you need to have absolute stealth in your mission. In this situation, your bolt bag will contain a zip-line bolt. You'll be using that to create a zip-line for you and and your squad to get off this tower. Just load the bolt onto your cross bow and make sure you aim your bolt at an angle that will allow you to repeal down easily. Too steep of an angle and you'll repeal down at such a force you'll be calling out for a medic assuming you are still alive when you reach the ground. Your plate carriers should have a hook to attach to the zip-line so you can repeal down."

"Understood Drill Sergeant." Chiara takes the crossbow and loads the zip-line bolt. She uses mental math in her head to determine where she should aim the bolt towards the ground. She finds a spot that seems ideal and takes aim, carefully squeezing the trigger bar on her crossbow. "THUNK" the bolt glides towards the ground and punctures the earth below. Chiara grabs the zip-line from her crossbow, detaching it and tying it to the iron post of the observation tower. She sits over at the edge, latching her hook onto the zip-line, She turns around and smiles at the girls. "I'll see you at the bottom." She pushes herself off the edge, the hook on the plate carrier hangs onto the strong zip-line supporting her weight as she zips down towards the ground. The wind rushes through her reddish hair and muddy clothes while she makes her way down to the ground. Her feet make contact to the ground successfully and she sticks her arms out in a "tada!" pose once she makes her landing. Chiara gets some clapping and applause from Longhorn Squad from the bleachers.

"That looked fun. Let me go next." Hikari enthusiastically noted as she repeats what Chiara did before zipping down the line. She holds onto the brim of her skirt to keep it from lifting as she zip-lines down. She lands safely next to Chiara, turning her head around to see Mai making her way down next. She steps aside expecting Mai to nail the landing but unexpectedly she fumbles the landing and trips onto the ground.

"You're alright Mai?" Chiara asks.

"Yeah...yeah...I'm fine. Just blundered my landing....Hey..don't laugh Hikari." She gets up back onto her feet

The three of them then look up to the tower and see Emi hasn't come down yet. The Drill Sergeant is getting impatient with Emi.

"What's the hold up?! Your squad is waiting for you Trackstar! Get down there! Hurry it up!"

"I.....I can't Drill Sergeant!" Emi cries in a terrified tone. "I...I can't do it..."

"My God, are you're pulling my leg Trackstar?! Aren't you supposed to be the squad leader?!

The members of Longhorn Squad watch the commotion from the bleachers. "Seriously. Why doesn't she just repeal down?" Fio comments while she looks through her digital binoculars.

"Emi has a phobia of heights." Tomio sighs, crossing his arms as he leans back a little. It's been something that's bugged her entire life."

"What's there to fear? This is all a simulation. If she falls to her death, she'll just respawn anyways.

"It's a phobia Fio. It doesn't matter if it's real or not, the illusion of height and danger is still there."

"Still, she's not setting a good example for her squad." Ramirez remarks from the side. "Someone like her wouldn't even make the cut for warehouse crew with all the climbing we have to do."

"I would had expected Chiara to be having trouble with this trial...Emi was doing so good up until this point." Kimberly shakes her head and shrugs. "Worst case, if she calls it quits here, I can probably find someone from the forums to take her place for Armadillo Squad."

"Kimberly. Don't talk like that!" Tomio says with frustration. "Emi's a good friend. I want to believe she'll get through this training. I believe in her." He focuses his attention back to the observation tower. "Come on Emi...please.." He murmurs to himself.

"Trackstar! You are proving me to exactly what I was thinking about when I was inspecting your squad. You really are a spineless coward who is incapable of leading your squad! You think heights are going to be the only thing to scare you on the battlefield?! Are you seriously going to let your squad down in a match if you can't even get down from heights like this?"

"N...No Drill Sergeant!" Emi cries out again...her body feeling more conflicted between fear and determination to not let her squad down.

"Then stop wasting time and regroup with your squad! We can't be here all day!"

"Emi! Please come down! You'll be fine! I promise!" Chiara shouts with all of her might from below! "We can't do this without you! We need you Emi! I need you!"

"Ch...Chiara!" Emi calls from above. She grabs the hook from her plate carrier and slowly makes her way to the edge of the tower. Her thoughts go wild with fear "Oh god....no...no...no....Emi....come on...don't cop out now...please...it's just a simulation Emi....just....do it Emi!" Emi sits at the edge of the tower, her legs dangling as she hooks herself to the zip-line. "Whatever happens...it's all just a simulation...here I go..." Emi closes her eyes as she pushes herself off the edge. Her eyes remain close as she feels the wind breezing through her as she zip-lines down. She slowly opens her eyes and realizes she's not that far off the ground anymore. Her boots plant onto the ground gently. A sigh of relief escapes her mouth.

"Emi! You did it!" Chiara rushes to Emi and hugs her tightly, nearly knocking her balance.

"I'm really pathetic Chiara..." Emi mutters as she returns the hug.

"Bullshit. You did great Emi! Make room!" Mai interjects as she joins in on the hug.

"Hpmh...well I suppose I have to join too." Hikari reluctantly joins the group hug. All the girls of Armadillo squad surround Emi to congratulate her on overcoming her fear. The drill sergeant finally makes his way down the zip-line to address the girls.

"Well that took longer than I would had liked but you all did it. That concludes the physical training section of the course. But we aren't done just yet. We'll be covering combat next in addition to the rules of war. This is just one third of your training before I can even consider you worth of being Mil-Sim Tournament worthy. Are you all ready for what's to come next?" The Drill Sergeant addresses the girls as the break away from their group hug.

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!”

Chapter 10: Lesson 2: Combat and Rules of Warfare

The girls of Armadillo Squad are now standing outside of the kill house. Emi pats down her 30 round PMAGs on her carrier. Her eyes glance at the other girls, inspecting their own equipment just she's doing. "Hey Mai."

"What's up Emi?"

"Do you know how this optic works?" She asks as her fingers tap on the optics of of her rifle.

"Well that's an Aimpoint CompM4. You turn that little knob on the top right to adjust the brightness on your red dot. The indented knobs on the top and side adjust your zero. You adjusted your zero...right?"

"N...not yet."

"Ah...I wouldn't worry about it yet. The Kill House is close quarters so maybe use your irons for now."

"I'll consider your advise Mai." Emi detaches her optic and places it into her backpack, replacing it with the detachable carry handle that came with the rifle.

"No problem Emi. By the way, if it were up to me, I'd run with the carry handle myself. The M4A1 looks more classic that way."

"Now I know why you go by the call sign Boomer."

"Yep. And it's not just because of the RPG. Man this thing is slowing me down. Anti-tank roles suck. Why couldn't I just carry some C4s like Chiara?"

"C4s? What are C4s?" Chiara questions from the other side. She appears to have a small form factor red dot on a rail adapter to her MP5SD.

"Oh...we haven't gone to that part of the tutorial yet." Mai corrects herself. "I wouldn't worry about it yet Chiara."

"When can we start shooting already?" Hikari complained as she aims her rifle at the exterior kill house dry firing her rifle.

"Whenever the Drill Sergeant can hurry up and get onto the observation tower." Mai grumbles. Honestly, I don't even know why you're so eager to start shooting again. Your rifle is probably going to jam up on you again."

"That's not going to happen Mai. Do you want another kick in the face?"

"No thanks. I think I get the point." Mai had already made fun of Hikari enough for her to push back and doesn't prod any further. "Jeez...what's the hold up with the Drill Sergeant? We've been waiting longer than expected."

"THE HOLD UP IS THE FACT THAT YOU LADIES ARE JUST CHIT CHATTING LIKE WE GOT ALL DAY." The Drill Sergeant yells through a megaphone from above the watch tower which overlooks the kill house. "Are we done with your squad's exposition dump so we can get back to reality?!"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!"

"Right. So this here is the kill house." The Drill Sergeant begins his explanation but cuts off to call on Mai. "On second thought, why don't you explain it exactly how I told you the first time you did this course Boomer? Seeing as you've already gone through this training already."

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" Mai agrees forwardly before turning to Emi, Chiara, and Hikari. "So the Kill House is a course where you will have to go through a simulated "house" where enemy targets will pop out from various hiding spots, covers, and doorways. The goal is get through the kill house and eliminate all the hostiles as quickly as you can. But watch out! Not all targets are going to be hostiles so just don't go spraying and praying everywhere.

"Sounds easy. I'll go first." Hikari brushes her ponytails behind her head as she stacks up to the front of the Kill House. "This is going to be easy."

"Hime! Since you're going first, let's see if your confidence is warranted." The Drill Instructor calls from the observation tower. "At the sound of the buzzer, the timer will begin and you will go through the course as quickly as you can. Shooter ready?!"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" Hikari responds as she gets into a fighter's stance at the front of the kill house entrance, as if she's ready to pounce.

"Stand by..." A small moment of silence fills the air before a loud "BZZZZ" from the buzzer emits and within a fraction of a second, Hikari goes inside the kill house and disappears from everyone but the drill sergeant's overhead sight. The girls from the outside of the kill house cannot see what's going on but they can certainly hear Hikari's AN-94 burst fire doing some serious work in the kill house. When a room in the kill house is cleared, a higher pitch audible buzz emits to confirm to the shooter that the room is cleared so Hikari will move onto the next room. This goes on for about 40 seconds and sometime after 30 rounds, the sounds of the gunfire changes from the notable 2 round hyper burst of the AN-94 to single shots of 9mm coming out from Hikari's P320 Flux Raider PDW conversion. At the 48 second mark, Hikari comes out from the opposite end of the kill house and sprints back to the entrance of where the rest of the girls are waiting. Emi and Chiara have a shocked look on their face from how quickly Hikari had returned from the kill house. Mai seems to have a smirk on her face as if she's knows something.

"Hpmh. That was incredibly easy!" Hikari lifts her rifle over her shoulder proudly and she sticks her tongue out at Mai. "No jams what so ever."

"Hime! I have to admit, you are quite the fast and reactive shooter with your AN-94 and P320 Sidearm! You breezed through that obstacle course in less than a minute!" The Drill Sergeant confirmed through the megaphone. "All of the targets in the kill house were eliminated."

"Ah. Thank you Drill Sergeant." Hikari smiles widely as she smirks back at Mai who isn't buying it for a reason.

"Not only did you eliminate all of the hostile targets, but you also completely annihilated all of the innocent bystanders. Congratulations Hime! You are a world class war criminal!" The tone of the Drill Sergeant's voice changes to one of anger.

Hikari's smug expression dies in an instant. "W...what?"

"Were you not paying attention to Boomer's instructions?! Or are you just trigger happy, Hime?!" He then look towards Mai again. "Repeat your instructions to her one more time because I don't think she heard you loud and clear Boomer!"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant." Mai replies with a smug certainly before leaning over to Hikari's ear. "NOT ALL TARGETS ARE GOING TO BE HOSTILES SO JUST DON'T GO SPRAYING AND PRAYING EVERYWHERE!" Mai screams at the top of her voice to irritate Hikari who repulses instantly.

"Gah...Did you seriously have to yell in my ear!" Hikari cries back as she protects her own ears.

"I think you heard it loud and clear. So to elaborate further." The Drill Instructor address the girls from the watch tower. "Warfare is not a simple sport between two opposing forces, especially in the real world. Since we are trying to simulate the combat conditions of the battlefield, just like in reality, the battlefield is not an arena. Battles are fought in unexpected places and in inconvenient places, especially where there is vital infrastructures and civilians about."

A tutorial notification pops up in the girl's heads up display explaining further: In certain tournament events, you may come across NPC civilians who will be caught between you and the enemy crossfire. While collateral damage is a given in warfare, direct fire upon unarmed targets is frowned upon in the rules of war. Shooting civilians, prisoners of war, or destroying vital infrastructure like power plants, schools or churches intentionally or recklessly will not cost you the match, but it will severely penalize your squad's income at the end of the match regardless if you win or lose. On the contrary, helping injured civilians / prisoners of war or repairing destroyed infrastructure such as bridges, power facilities and such can give your squad extra income points during matches but are not required to win.

"Oh...That makes sense....my mistake." Hikari confesses to herself after reading the prompt on her heads up display.

"Right. Try again and this time, watch your fire!" The Drill Instructor addressed Hikari through his megaphone.

"Understood, Drill Sergeant." Hikari gets into position as before in front of the entrance of the kill house. Within a few seconds, the buzzer goes off again and Hikari proceeds through the kill house as before, being more careful of where her shots are going. Within 58 seconds, she's running out of the kill house and back at the entrance where all the other girls are waiting.

"A little slower than before, but no collateral damage this time. That'll do Hime." Hikari slumps down on the floor and sighs in relief. "Alright, Let's see....Trackstar, your up next.

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" Emi goes through the kill house just as Hikari did. Her M4A1 is fired in semi as Emi carefully picks out her targets in the kill house. She makes a reload with her rifle during the run before finishing the course in about 1 minute and 14 seconds. She sprints back to the entrance to hear her results.

"That's not the worst run I'd ever seen, but it's not the best either. Trackstar, why the bloody hell do you not have a sidearm?!"

"That's something I haven't addressed yet, Drill Sergeant." Emi admits with a bit of guilt in her voice.

"Well don't be a cheap bastard like Boomer next time. Get yourself a sidearm at Flint's after today's training."

"Of course, Drill Sergeant."

"Mouse! You're next. You have a 9mm SMG and a 22lr sidearm am I right about that?"

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" Chiara replies back with certainty as she stacks up at the front entrance.

"Keep in mind you're using a pistol caliber firearm as your primary which means your damage output isn't going to be a effective as your teammates running intermediate cartridges. My suggestion to you is stay within your cartridges effective range which will primarily be within close quarters. Combatants with body armor higher than level II might give you some trouble so make your shots count."

"Understood, Drill Sergeant."

"On another note, your side arm is a plinking toy at best. Don't think you're going to win any firefights with it unless you get a good shot at an opponent's vitals. You are a scout after all so getting into firefights shouldn't be your priority. Lucky for you, this kill house is entirely close quarters so this shouldn't be difficult for you. Are you ready?"

"Yes Drill Sergeant!" Chiara waits for the buzzer before going through the course. Her MP5's silencer is noticeable even to the girls waiting outside of the kill house. But when she switches to her silenced Taurus TX22 Compact, the impacts of the round hitting the cardboard targets nearly as audible as the pistol itself. Chiara is a little faster than Emi at 1 minute and 4 seconds but nowhere near as fast as Hikari.

"That's acceptable. Not amazing, but acceptable." The Drill Sergeant notes as he looks at his timer. "Boomer, you've done this course before. You know what to do."

Mai stands by the entrance with her SKS ready to have her go at the course once more. She remembers the first time she's done this course and how she nearly made the same mistake as Hikari on her first run. She was training with another squad a few months ago, all interested in doing the summer tournament as before. But complications got in the way with some of the squad members and Mai never really had the opportunity to compete seriously as she will for this tournament. She hears the buzzer and goes like a natural. Her 10 round internal magazine limits her capabilities at close quarters and she has to make reloads in between movements between rooms. At some point, she just switches to her Hi Point C9 pistol and shoots the rest of the course with that considering reloads for her pistol are a lot faster than pressing stripper clips into her Type 56 SKS. She's the slowest at 1 Minute and 24 seconds.

"You know your time would be a lot better if you used a more "modern rifle" boomer. But for now, just stick to mid-range engagements. At least your Type 56 SKS is better at longer ranges than most AKM rifles."

"I got that Drill Sergeant." Mai nods. "But I ain't changing my rifle anytime soon."

"Your loss Mai..." Hikari shakes her head in disbelief.

"Trust me, I know what I am doing with my rifle. It's not just about firearms you know."

"She's absolute right." The Drill Sergeant interjects. "Victory on the battlefield will not be won with firearms alone. You'll have to use your terrain, tactics, technology, and wits to give a devastating blow to the enemy! You will have to use whatever you have at your disposal. Not everything will go according to plan. Even if the ultimate goal is to eliminate the enemy team, going all rifleman and grenadiers will not cut it on the battlefield. You all have your specific classes and abilities which we will discuss in our final section of your training."

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" The girls answer back in unison.

Chapter 11: Lesson 3: Combat Abilities and Roles

"Listen up! I know you ladies are capable of fighting, though not necessarily winning battles, it's about time we discuss the combat roles of your classes, starting with you Boomer!" The Drill Sergeant points to the RPG-7 On her back, as mentioned, in addition to your sapper roles of building defenses, trenches, repairing vehicles and infrastructure, you are also tasked with taking out hostile vehicles such as transports and tanks. Your RPG-7 is capable of firing HEAT warheads which can be used to take out or disable some armored vehicles. Take a look at that wrecked tank over there, 50 meters to the right of you." Mai directs her attention at a T-80 battle tank which has seen better days. "Why don't you show your squad mates what you can do with your new RPG-7?"

"My pleasure, Drill Sergeant." Mai happily obliges as she pulls out the RPG-7 from her back, loading a HEAT warhead at the front. She gets down onto one knee and aims down the red dot sight mounted onto the launcher. Hikari stands behind her to get a better view, which turned out to be a fatal mistake when Mai pulls the trigger of her rocket launcher causing the projectile to fly towards the tank creating a large explosion on the tank's tracks. Unfortunately, the back blast of the RPG-7 Knocked Hikari over depleting all of her health. Her rag doll lies on the floor for a brief moment before she respawns back in the same spot. "Uh....woops...sorry Hikari." Mai nervously remarks.

"W...what just happened?" Hikari asks in a confused state of mind.

"You were being absolutely naive. That's what happened." Answer the Drill Sergeant. "You never stand behind someone firing a RPG-7 or most handheld rocket launchers. The back blast is deadly enough to obliterate anything standing in front and behind."

Emi can clearly see Tomio and the rest of longhorn squad chuckling to themselves seeing Hikari blow away by the back blast. Hikari is incredibly embarrassed by what happened right now.

"I...I'll keep that in mind next time, Drill Sergeant."

"Well since we got that out of the way, there's another projectile I'd like to introduce to Mai if you can stop ragdolling for just a minute, Hime." The Drill Sergeant pulls out another warhead from a nearby crate and hands it over to Mai. "These warheads are Fragmentation" rounds. They are more effective against against large group of enemy soldiers. Not really useful for anything else. So how about you see for yourself what it can do." He then points directly to Tomio and the rest of Longhorn Squad sitting by the bleachers. "Why don't you go ahead and fire at those useless lots over there?"

"Wait...oh crap!" Kimberly shouts out to the others but Mai doesn't hold back as she starts smirking as she aims her RPG-7 at the bleachers and fires her Fragmentation warhead into them, causing longhorn squad to completely fall into the ground as the bleachers break part and collapse. "Ha! Nice shot Boomer. Well done." The Drill Sergeant laughs as Tomio's squad respawn over the wrecked bleachers where they were once sitting at.

"Was that really necessary?" Ramirez complained in a low voice.

"We're almost done here. A little standing about wouldn’t hurt." The drill sergeant called through his megaphone.

"That was pretty cool, Mai."

"Heh. Thanks Hikari!"

"Alright, Let's get a move on. Trackstar. You're up next. Since you're the squad leader, your duties are quite obvious. Lead your team to victory and boss them around. Sounds simple enough right?"

"I'd think so, Drill Sergeant."

"You don't sound too confident. That's not very promising. But maybe this might help. You see that radio in your plate carrier. You use that to communicate with your squad or allied teammates. Just make sure settle on a channel where you can communicate easily with them. Keep in mind that if the enemy knows your channel frequency, your communications can be intercepted so don't be giving away your strategies over the air unless you can find a way to encrypt your messages."

"Encryption, Drill Sergeant?" Emi asks.

"For the time being, your handheld radios will not be capable of encryption. You'll need to invest in better communication technology for your squad should you rake in the credits in your future matches. I suppose you can get creative with your orders, should you need to issue out vital information through the waves. But communicating with your teammates isn't all that impressive of a skill. Here, I'm sending you an additional exclusive radio channel you can use."

Emi's heads up display shows a frequency she can tune to with her radio. "That channel frequency you are being shown is a support channel. Should you end up in a less than ideal situation, you can call that channel for emergency reinforcements which can aid you on the battlefield."

"You mean like additional soldiers, Drill Sergeant?"

"Precisely. You are getting the hang of it, Trackstar. Calling for reinforcements will give you an additional squad of AI controlled soldiers that will arrive either by air, sea, or land depending on the battlefield conditions, rules, and theme. Just keep in mind these soldiers will not exceed the skill level of you or your squad but they'll follow orders. Alternatively, you can call in for artillery barrage, CAS or Close Air Support, or if the battlefield permits it, a supply drop to resupply your squad and your teammates. One caveat of this ability is that it could only be used once."

"I understand Drill Sergeant."

"Last thing to note, if you are ever incapacitated, someone from your squad or even a squad leader from another squad can take your place and use your abilities for the rest of the match. So try not to get yourself recklessly killed unless you can trust on the leadership skills of your squad mates."

"I'll try not to let that happen, Drill Sergeant."

"Very Well. Mouse, we gone over most of your abilities during physical training. You're a scout so you're going to be moving ahead of everyone else if instructed to by your squad leader. Sometimes you might have to sneak behind enemy lines to collect intel or sabotage. Speaking of which, check your backpack Mouse."

Chiara takes off her backpack and opens the zipper, revealing some hefty objects wrapped in duct tape and a small electronics module taped over them.

"You scouting kit includes some additional C4 charges. They have an electronics device on the top to set the timer before they can detonate. The underside has a sticky adhesive so you can place them on a moving target like a vehicle or tank without the explosive falling off. You can give the enemy team a real surprise if you know what you are doing. But C4s aren't just for fun and games either. Some mission objects will require you to destroy assets that are giving your enemy an edge such as a weapons cache or even civilian infrastructure which has been repurposed for military means. In such cases, you will have the green light to destroy them to hinder the enemy. But don’t waste them if you need to use explosives for an objective."

Chiara nods as she looks at her C4 charges before putting them back into her backpack.

"So far so good, it seems you girls are starting to understand your roles pretty well so far. It's only a matter of time before..." Without warning, the Drill Sergeant takes out his Browning Hi Power side arm and shoots Mai in the leg.

"Ah!" Mai stumbles onto the ground as her leg has taken damage. There is a redness to her leg where the bullet has impacted.

"Oh my God! Mai has been shot!!! WHERE'S THE MEDIC!" The drill sergeant yells openly. "Why is the squad medic just standing there. Heal your sapper!"

"On it, Drill Sergeant." Hikari recovers from the shock of seeing Mai being unexpectedly shot in the leg and gets down to help Mai with her injury.

"Pay attention you two, this is important. Watch as Hime stops the bleeding." The Drill Sergeant points to Hikari who is addressing Mai's wound with a tourniquet.

"The Tourniquet will stop the bleeding and will allow some time for Boomer to keep bleeding out. In a real life situation, Mai would be sent away from the battlefield to be medically addressed by surgeons. Since bodily damage is all simulated and does not persist after the match, this will not be simulated completely. However, if Boomer's injuries are severe enough, she may have to be airlift, or transported out of the battlefield. Technically, this will make her a casualty and will no longer fight for the rest of the match, however this will not count as a KIA for your squad if she is pulled out of the battlefield so you'll get some extra points if you save a critical wounded team mate, POW, or civilian that you run into. The Tourniquet is useful for most gunshot wounds, but sometimes that won't work with other bodily injuries. Packing the wound with gauze would be more ideal in those situations. Chest and abdomen wounds are more likely to be fatal and severe, especially without plates to protect your vitals so a chest seal would be used to keep your injured squad mate from dying out. And if the injury is to the head or mouth...well you're more than likely done for. Check for red zones on your injured squad mate and use your knowledge to heal them in an appropriate manner."

Hikari finishes healing Mai who is able to get up on her feet again but with a limp. "Oh and since our demonstration is done here...let me reset your vitals." Mai's health and injuries and reset back to normal.

"Mm...that's better."

"Well congratulations girls. This concludes our basic training for Mil-Sim Story's Tournament matches. One additional thing I'd like to address is that you don't have to stick with your class for the entirety of the tournament. You're free to change roles, weapons, gear, or adopt a new class should it be more beneficial to your squad's tactics for an upcoming match. In such cases, you should report here to the training field to learn these new skills before going out into the battlefield again. Until then, you are all dismissed." The Drill Sergeant Salutes.

"Thank you, Drill Sergeant!" The girls of armadillo squad call back with a salute.

"Now if you excuse me, I'm going back to my office for a tea break. I suggest you talk about your plans for tomorrows match for the tournament with your spectators over there." Drill Sergeant Perry walks off to the barracks on the opposite end of the field. Emi turns her attention towards Longhorn squad who is approaching them from what was the remains of the bleachers.

"Not bad Armadillo Squad." Tomio noted. "I think I made the right choice letting you partner up with us for the tournament."

"We didn't breeze through it, Tomio." Emi admits humbly. "Even I struggled at one point."

"So did us." Fio added. "It's a miracle I ever completed training." She smiles with a little chuckle to her voice.

"So just as a heads up, the gang and I found out about our first match tomorrow. We're going up against Glam Squad and Kraken PMC."

"Oh....Kraken..." Mai eyes blink from hearing that name. "So Zander is actually serious about competing in the tournament this time?" She grumbles to herself.

"You know them?" Tomio asks Mai with suspicion.

"Know them? I used to be part of Kraken PMC back in the summer."

"Huh? You were in another squad before Mai?"

"Of course I was Emi. Like I said, I've been playing this game for quite a while now. The thing is, Kraken PMC is an international squad but most members don't stick around for very long. Zander is more of a hard ass than Drill Sergeant Perry if you can believe that."

"How do they fight Mai?" Chiara chimes in as well.

Not like a conventional military force. They are a professional private style military but they are more cut throat and are more focused about getting the mission done no matter what. Their entire reputation lies on making the most credits from matches...well at least in the past. They have a lot of sponsors and work with other squads if they pay them high enough."

"And what about Glam Squad?"

"No clue. They seem new to me."

"Can you be honest with us Mai? Do you think we have a chance against them?"

Mai looks at Emi for a brief moment, then to Tomio before speaking to the group as a whole. "I'd like to say there's a possibility. Technically anything is possible, but I don't think our victory is guaranteed."

"I see...well..." Emi nods to Tomio. "We have some experienced members in our platoon. I trust your leadership, Tomio."

"And I trust in your squad's abilities and your own, Emi."

"Perfect! Then those money hungry mercenaries and that new squad will get the ass whipping they deserve." Kimberly declares enthusiastically.

"You sure of yourself Kimberly." Ramirez asks doubtfully.

"I have a gut feeling about it. We've become all good friends with Armadillo Squad in a short matter of time, and we seen them and what they are capable of."

"Is it enough?"

"It's more than enough, Rami."

"So it's settled, we're actually going to go through this. I just hope we don't completely get humiliated. Can we all make a promise here everyone?"

Everyone's eyes are on Hikari who has something to say.

"If we are destined to lose our first match, can we at least try to lose in the best way we can. Let's not give them an easy victory."

"As long as I get to shoot my RPG-7 in Zander's face, that would be good enough for me." Mai conveyed confidently. "But it would be nice if we could we win this."

"Chiara. You've been awfully quiet so far, do you have something you'd like to say?" Kimberly addresses Chiara.

"Oh...um...well....I'd say....Let's do this."

"Let's do this." Emi repeats Chiara's words.

"Let's do this!" Everyone all cheers in unison.

Later that evening in Flint's Gun Store

Everyone has logged off of Mil-Sim Story's server from Longhorn Squad and Armadillo Squad. Everyone except Tomio and Emi who are hanging out at Flint's Gun store. Emi is looking through some of the pistols in the counter.

"I'm going to need a pistol before the match tomorrow. I can't believe I didn't get one before going up against you last week."

"Our last match would had gone differently if you had one."

"Obviously Tomio." She shakes her head and sighs. "I mean, all of these handguns seem good enough. I have no idea what I should get for myself."

"Hm..." Tomio looks at the pistols in the counter with Emi. "I'd think you would look good with a Beretta."

"You mean those pistols over here?" Emi notes to the section labeled Beretta which has a couple of handguns under the brand name.

"They are probably one of the oldest firearm brands and they are Italian too which is a plus for me."

"Is that all Tomio?"

"Some of them are combat proven. How about that Beretta M9A4. It's a recent redesign of their classic M9 line."

Emi looks at the M9A4 for a moment before calling Flint who is waiting behind the counter. "Flint, can I see it for a second?"

"Sure thing Emi. This is a high quality pistol. Tomio ain't wrong about that. See for yourself." He takes the pistol from the counter and hands it over to Emi. She grips her hand around the grip of the pistol. Her hands are comfortable on the grip, even though her hands don't completely envelope it. It's a fairly large handgun for a combat pistol, but not comically large.

"Not bad, the slide seems to rack smoothly and there appears to be an optic and threaded barrel too." Emi racks the slide to safety check the firearm before trying out the trigger. "Hm...that's a nice trigger too."

"I'd knew you would like it. I would buy one myself but I’m rocking my Single Action Army."

”That cowboy thing? Why Tomio? That’s even more antiquated than Mai’s gear.”

”You know I like my spaghetti westerns. I shoot pretty well with it. You’re a witness to that skill.”

"Yeah, you got me there Tomio.” Emi sighs remembering how she got taken out at the last second of their previous match together. “Alright. I'll take it Flint."

"Thanks Emi. I'll go ahead and process your transaction. You should probably give it a few shots at the shooting range before your match tomorrow. I'll be rooting for your squads."

"We appreciate it Flint, Thank you!" Tomio replies.

Tomio and Emi are now outside of Flint's. The evening hue is now completely gone and the dark hues of the stars and sky have replaced it. It's awfully quiet but relatively peaceful.

"It's been a long time since we hung out like this Emi." Tomio remarked as they lean on a parked car outside of Flint's store together.

"Yeah, with just the two of us. How long ago was that Tomio?"

"Jeez, I don't even know how many years it's been." Tomio eyes dart to Emi's face. "Can I say something Emi?"

"You can say anything Tomio. I'm not going to stop you.

"I know I can Emi...but you know this is difficult for a guy like me to bring up with a childhood friend. I'm a bit uneasy right now?"

"Huh? You? Uneasy? About the tournament?"

"No, Emi...it's about us?"

Emi's eyes dilate as Tomio speaks.

"I know you are reluctant to admit it but...I'd must of done something wrong back then for you to avoid me back in middle school."

"Tomio...no...no you didn't. You could never offend me...at least now that I am somewhat...more mature."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Uh....well..." Emi loses her train of thought while Tomio laughs quietly to himself. "Okay....maybe I'm not exactly in control when it comes to my own issues. Life has been up and down Tomio. I honestly wished I never locked you out of it."

"Our parents were still talking even when we stopped. I heard about what happened. I'm deeply sorry about your parents and your younger brother."

Emi and Tomio remain quiet for a moment before Tomio speaks up again. "If you ever have anything that's troubling you, I'm willing to listen."

"Thanks Tomio. I never thought a psychology major would be getting psychological help at some point. I want to help people like I helped Chiara and so many others and yet sometimes I feel like I can't help myself you know. I can't even get over my phobia of heights."

"That's something you can fix with exposure therapy right?"

"Yeah, but I feel like being put through that stresses me out."

"You shouldn't have to feel that way. You have friends who can help you out when you need it. Don't be afraid to ask. You're a team leader, just like me, but you and I aren't perfect. We shouldn't pretend to be."

Emi sighs but a small smile forms on her lips. "Tomio, you're acting a lot mature from the last time I seen you too."

"Oh...really? Thanks Emi." Tomio almost blushes as he speaks. "It's not like I'm doing much with my life. You're at least going to college."

"College isn't all what it's made out to be Tomio. Trust me. These past few weeks have been disappointing. I don't know what's going to await for me in track, but I'll rather not talk about that. We have to stay focused on the match tomorrow."

"Yep. And we better get our rest too while we are at it. It's getting late."

"Ready to log off already, Tomio?"

"Yeah, you too?"

"Emi nods to Tomio. "I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow on the battlefield then."

"Yeah. This time, we'll be fighting together and not against each other."

"Mhm. Well...I guess this is goodnight then, Tomio. See you tomorrow?"

"Uh...yeah. See you Tomorrow Emi. It's been nice talking to you again."

"Me too. I missed you Tomio..."

"Huh...what was that?"

"Oh..uh...I...I said I'll be seeing you."

"See you tomorrow Emi. Goodnight."

Emi removes her VR headset and wipes her eyes with her t-shirt. She lets out a quiet yawn before setting her headset by the bedside, letting her head plant gently on her pillow. She pulls another pillow closer to her and hugs it tightly before closing her eyes.

Chapter 12: Battle of the Woods Pt1: Operation Nordic Wind

Saturday Morning, Somewhere in the Scandinavian Countryside.

A cassette deck plays some glam rock over the air in a M939 Truck driven by two female commanders. A group of armed soldiers ride in the back, wielding weapons of a mixed variety including M3 Grease Guns, M16A2s, M249s, and other small arms. Behind their truck, a M1A1 Abrams Tank cruises behind after departing from a transport ship by the docks. A soldier with a tanker’s helmet peeks out from the hatch while signaling to his driver to keep their pace so that they don’t accidentally ram into their squad leader’s transportation truck. As they are about to depart from the docks, they pass by two M198 howitzers which are being setup by some soldiers clad in the same M81 Woodland camo as the girl’s squad. The brunette girl riding shotgun with a ponytail wields a XM177 by her side. It’s small and compact compared to her sister’s M16A2GL variant and is fitted with a vintage Colt optic on the carry handle. Despite her squad wielding classic American weapons of the late 20th century. Her optic is engraved with “Made in Japan” on the side. Her sister, another brunette with a wavy 80s hairstyle stuffed under a black beanie, has a M9 pistol made by Pietro Beretta which she had swapped to after carrying a Colt 1911 Series 80 from her time being in Flamingo Squad. Her expression is cool and collected, compared to her twin sister who looks like she could jump out from her seat and start charging head on.

“Can we hurry this up, Sis? I’m ready to show our adversaries what we got!”

“Bernadette, we’re going to take this the smart way.” Her sister reassures her as their convoy comes to a halt. The soldiers in the back disembark and get onto the tank as it rides off in a separate direction in a crossroad. “There’s a time and place for door kicking, but this battlefield isn’t one of them. We’ll be using our logistics and fire support to our advantage. We have no clue how our adversaries are going to fight, so it’s better if we throw our heavy munitions first.”

“Tch. You’re no fun, Sis.” The girl with the ponytail pulls out a map from a compartment on the side of her seat. “I can’t believe we’re just going to camp out by the hillside and watch everything unfold. Why can’t we fight like you did in Flamingo Squad?”

“Because, being reckless like that isn’t viable, Sis.” She sighs as they pull up on a hill. “It’s your first time in a battle. I know it’s difficult to comprehend but sometimes, it’s more advantageous to take a cautious approach. This is a military simulation. Even I have to remind myself.”

“So our AI squadmates are heading for the logging camp? Is it just going to be the two of us assaulting the village, Cheyenne?”

“Not right away, Bernadette. We’re going to hold our position and unleash our heavy ordinance while Zander’s mercenaries tag alongside our disposable troops and Abrams at the logging camp. Once they receive their beatings, we’ll squeeze them out like toothpaste.” Cheyenne smiles gently at her sister as she hands her a pair of binoculars. “I’ll give you the honors of calling artillery.”

“Oh Sis, you know I always love a good fireworks show!” Bernadette says gleefully.

"What a beautiful place for our first match!" Kimberly comments while placing some ammo cans onto the back of a transport truck with the help of Ramirez who is organizing all of their supplies for their operation.

"It’s a shame I can’t seem to get away from stacking boxes, even in VR.” Ramirez says in a dry humorous tone. As he pushes some boxes into the back of the transport truck.

"You’re always such a downer, Rami.” Kimberly chuckles as she lifts another crate up to Ramirez. “What’s with all these ammo crates anyways?”

“It’s a last resort. Something to hopefully change the tide if everything goes down to shit.”

"“Do you really think we’re going to waste all our ammo so quickly?”

“We better not.”

Meanwhile, Tomio and Fio are overlooking their rugged Tablet alongside Emi at a small airstrip sounded by dense woodlands and a little log cabin by the side. They are discussing an approach to their advancement. "We're going to have plenty of discrete coverage from enemy UAVs assuming they use any." Tomio points out as he marks the forested areas on the tablet.

"The roads are going to split into two pathways, one leading up to a small village on the northern road and a logging camp on the south road, right after a civilian gas station. Do you have any preferences, Emi?"

"Hm..I think the girls and I will take the road south. We can secure the longing camp and set up defensive positions, protecting our southern flank. I can split my squad into two so that someone can patrol the center forest area between the village in the north and the logging camp in the south." Emi traces her route in a blue path and then splits another path from the logging camp. "That way, we can deny a point of entry from a parallel here, assuming you hold onto the village. Do we have any idea where the enemy squads might attack from?"

"Tomio looks over at the map on the tablet. "It should be obvious that they are coming from the opposite end of the map. This is not a very complex area for a battlefield. I have to assume they start somewhere on the docks west." He highlights an entire area close to the sea on the west. "What did you pick for your reinforcement perk? I am going with artillery strike just in case we run into any armor."

"I am going with AI parachute infantry." Emi explained to Tomio further. "In case we take any significant losses, I don't want to be outnumbered in a firefight."

Tomio can see Emi is a little concerned from her serious tone and look on her face. "I am sure we'll do just fine Emi. Oh and try not to stress out too much, this is just a simulation after all.

"Hm? Me? Stress?" Emi laughs nervously. "Oh...no no no...I don't think I'll worry, Tomio."

"You're going to do just fine. If there's any trouble, call us on our radio channel and we'll figure out something if we have to. Our objective is simple. Deny the enemy access to our airstrip, eliminate the enemy if we can't beat them into a surrender, and watch out for some of the civilians roaming around. I can already see Hikari and Chiara are getting along with one over there." Tomio smirks and points over to the cabin where Chiara and Hikari are talking to a young guy selling some wool beanies, hand-knit headgear, and trapper hats.

"I love how cute this beanie looks." Hikari gushes as she buys a black and red knitted beanie from the salesman at the cabin.

"It's one of the finest Swedish caps for a fine lady such as yourself. It looks very good on you, Japanese girl." The young Swedish NPC salesman suggests as he brings out more hats for Chiara to look through.

"Aw thank you! It's perfect. And we get to keep these, after the match?"

"Of course. Anything you buy on the battlefield or elsewhere will go into your inventory. These fine headwears are exclusive to this battlefield and nowhere else."

"I have to get one too Hikari...Oh...how about this one?" Chiara picks out a Viking style ladies fur cap. "It kind of looks like a Crockett cap without the tail. I love it."

"A fine choice there. It'll keep your head warm and comfortable. Would you like to buy it?"

"I would be crazy not to let this one slip by." Chiara notes as she transfers some credits to the NPC.

"Hey! Try not to waste all of your credits on cosmetics you two!" Emi snaps out to Chiara and Hikari. "We're here to fight Kraken and Glam Squad, not to do some shopping. We're about to depart soon so make sure you both are all geared up."

"Aw..." Hikari and Chiara both sigh as they return to Emi with their new hats. "Uh...where's Mai?" Hikari asks Emi.

"Mai said she's bringing some transportation we can use. Speaking of which, I see them coming."

The girls look over from the trees as Mai pulls up on the airstrip and drives down towards the group in a UTV ultralight off-roader. Emi can see it can seat up to four passengers which is just enough for her and her squad mates. The passenger seat next to the driver hosts a Kulspruta 58 Light Machine Gun which is mounted towards the front with a ammunition belt. "Fio paid for the machinegun. We owe her one." Mai mentions once she disembarks from the passenger side.

"Nah, don't worry about it, Armadillo Squad." Fio casually flaps her hand. "It was basically spare change expenses anyways. "It'll give you a fighting chance."

"We appreciate it, Fio, Thank you." Emi places her hand on her heart and nods her head. "Will your squad be alright in your transport van?"

"We'll be okay. We aren't going to use the van for anything once we are in the village. We're going to fortify inside the buildings and store our ammunition boxes somewhere once we're there."

"I see. Well then, now that everyone is here, we can begin our operation once we are given the go ahead right?"

"Our heads up display will let us know when the battle can commence. We can't leave spawn until the enemy teams are ready. It seems like they are still in the planning stage like we are, so we just have to wait."

"So does that give us time to buy more..."

"No Hikari." Emi answers sternly.

"Don't tell me she bought those cosmetic gimmicks?" Mai glares at Hikari and also at Chiara and crosses her arms. "Fancy headwear holds no tactical advantage whatsoever."

"But the cosmetics are limited time, Mai." Chiara caresses her own fluffy hat.

"So?" Mai shakes her head in disappointment.

"Look alive everyone, the enemy team is ready. The match will officially start in 10 seconds. Let's do this." The girls of Armadillo Squad get into the UTV with Emi as the driver, Mai as the gunner, and Hikari and Chiara riding in the back seat. Tomio and his squad get on board their transport truck and start the engine. Their heads up display has a countdown from 10 to 0 indicating when the match will start. When the countdown reaches 0, the message "Weapons Hot, get ready for combat!" flashes before their eyes and the two squads drive off into their planned routes. Emi's UTV bounces around on the rural gravel road as they drive into a wooded area south of where Tomio and his squad will be driving towards.

While Emi is driving to her destination, she receives a call from Fio over the radio. "How's the ride so far Emi?"

"I honestly wish we could race on this thing. We're about to approach the gas station, we'll be at that longing camp in no time."

"Nice. So far we haven't seen the enemy yet, Everything is going according to Tomio and your plan."

"Copy that Fio!" Emi finishes the call as she focuses her attention back on the road. Mai starts whistling a childhood melody that she recalls which gets on Hikari nerves.

"You shouldn't try to do that Mai, you're not very good at it."

"Say what? Do you have a better idea to pass the time while we're on our road trip?" Mai scoffs from the front passenger seat. "Please tell me your million dollar idea Miss Spends-A-Lot!"

"Mai. Please stay focused on that MG. We're not driving to Tomio's. We're going into a war zone." Emi scolds Mai. "I swear, I feel like a mom with you both bickering while I'm driving."

"As far I know, the enemy is on another planet. It'll be a while before we even see them." Mai puts her hands on the machine gun and pretends to mow down combatants with it while they drive. "Pew....pew....pew....man, wouldn't it be so cool if we could, like, drive all the way to their base and just drive circles around them while I gun them down?"

"Mai! You knew better than any of us that it won't play out that way!" Hikari interjected while she looked out at the vast forest they drove by.

"Maybe they should make these maps a lot smaller." Mai points the MG towards the horizon and sighs heavily "Hey Emi, what are we calling our operation anyways?"

"Do we have to come up with one, Mai?" Hikari asks.

"Of course we do. Duh! It'll make us more legit that way."

"Alright then. How about Operation: Mai's a cheapskate who won't let me buy some cosmetics?" Hikari suggested, taking a jab at Mai's Ego.

"I'm a what?!" Hikari laughs at Mai's expense.

"Tomio already suggested Operation Nordic Wind. So that's what we are going by. But the operation name can change if things get better or worse." Emi noted feeling a bit uneasy about how mundane this trip is so far on the UTV. "At least that's what he told me."

"Ugh...might as well call it Operation: Swedish Honeymoon with Tomio." Mai mutters under her breath.

"Don't make me press on these brakes, Mai!" Emi responds incredibly annoyed and flustered.

After a few minutes, the UTV slowly comes to a stop at the girl's first destination. It's an area clear of trees for the moment, a single gas station with two pumps at most where Emi pulls over near. The girls dismount, ready their weapons and search the area. Emi aims her M4A1, using the UTV as cover as she scans around the surrounding tree lines while Mai stays seated with her machine gun. Hikari and Chiara search around the gas station on the exterior and the interior. All of the contents inside the gas station are cleared and look like they haven't been stocked in ages. It's in a bad state of repair as the interior ceilings have rain water dripping from the roof onto the floor, some glass windows are broken in, and yet there's no sign of the enemy anywhere.

"The gas station is clear!" Hikari calls over the radio.

"I'm not seeing anyone else around either." Emi notifies over the radio. "Tomio, are you at the village yet?"

"Not yet. We haven't run into any of the squads yet. I just hope they haven't reached the village before we do. You should head towards the logging camp as soon as you can."

"Copy that, we'll be heading out. Stay safe, Tomio."

"You too, Emi. Stay frosty. I'm not sure what the enemy has in store for us."

"We'll be ready for them. You can count on that." Emi ends her communications with Tomio. "Alright girls, we have to keep moving." She gets back into the UTV with Mai.

"Shouldn't we construct some defenses around this perimeter beforehand?" Mai suggests to Emi as she starts the engine. "I gotta do some sapping, Emi."

"We are already wasting time by stopping here. We need to secure the logging camp so we can set up our defenses there. Chiara! Hikari! Let's go!" Chiara and Hikari run from the gas station and get on board the UTV before Emi presses her foot on the gas. They drive into another area of dense forest which will lead them into the longing camp.

Several minutes have gone by and as Emi drives, she relies on Chiara to keep track of their location on the map. "We're almost there Emi. We'll be approaching the camp very soon."

"Thanks Chiara...uh...hang on a second." Emi puts the UTV to a stop. in the middle of the road.

"Hey Emi...what's going on?" Hikari looks confused at Emi for stopping so soon.

"Shhh....be quiet." Mai whispers harshly to Hikari. “I think Emi spotted something...everyone dismount."

Emi gets off the driver seat and moves towards the right of the road into the tree line as she advances forward, carefully and quietly. She lowers her rifle so that it slings over her plate carrier while grabbing a pair of binoculars from her backpack. She takes cover behind a thick tree, her feet careful not to rustle the dead leaves engulfing her boots on the ground as her eyes peek through the binoculars. "It's not looking good, girls. The logging camp has company."

Emi hands over the binoculars to Mai who looks through them. She can see the logging camp is being patrolled by soldiers wearing woodland camouflage fatigues, gas masks, and PASGT Helmets.

"That must be Glam Squad. Damn. That equipment look incredibly vintage." Mai comments while looking through the binoculars before handing them to Hikari.

"That's rich coming from you, Mai." Hikari whispered sarcastically from behind as she observes too.

"What are we going to do, Emi?" Chiara asks while looking through her own binoculars.

"It doesn't seem they have spotted us. We might be able to achieve the element of surprise. Let me just check on Tomio first." Emi puts her binoculars down and pulls out her handheld radio.

"Tomio, we got company. The enemy is occupying the logging camp, there's about three of them from Glam Squad."

"That can't be good. Are you sure you're capable of taking them on? We're at the village already and we still haven't seen any signs of the enemy.

"It's only three of them and four of us. I think we can out flank them and overpower them. It has to be worth a try."

"If that's what you think, just stay on your toes. It appears they aren't being aggressive."

"Understood." Emi then directs her orders to her squad. "Listen up girls. They don't know we are close by. We can still get them through the element of surprise. Mai, use that fragmentation warhead and eliminate that machine gunner. Hikari, you watch her back in case they open fire on you. Chiara, you're with me. We're going to flank them from the side. We'll use the forest to conceal our movements, but we won't attack until you take out that MG with your rocket, Mai. Are we all onboard?"

Hikari, Mai, and Chiara nod in unison. "Yes, Emi."

"Confidence. I like that." Emi smiles from cheek to cheek. "Let's show them how Armadillo Squad fights."

Emi and Chiara split up from Mai and Hikari, heading east. Mai grabs a fragmentation rocket from her RPG bag and loads the warhead into her RPG-7. "Hikari, try not to stand behind me this time."

"Ha! I'm not making that mistake again." Hikari moves away from Mai and hides behind a fallen tree trunk large enough to provide cover on Mai’s right side while she rests her AN-94 over the edge so that she can get a clear view of the enemy through her sights.

On your signal Emi..." Mai aims her RPG and adjusts for 100 meters as she directs her red dot sight over the machine gunner positioned behind the sandbags.

"Let them have it, Mai!!!" Emi shouts over the radio.

Chapter 13: Battle of the Woods Pt2: Shock and Awe

Mai squeezes the trigger on her RPG-7, launching a fragmentation warhead directly into the machine gunner positioned by the sandbags. The machine gunner is blasted into a ragdoll which slides towards the soldiers. The other two soldiers are quickly alerted and spring into the ready position, opening fire into the general direction of Mai and Hikari and taking cover. Emi and Chiara sprint from their flank and open fire on the two soldiers, dropping them instantly. Emi and Chiara then take the position, scanning around them before Emi calls in "Clear!" to Hikari and Mai.

"Yeeehaw! Did you see that?! They didn't even have a fighting chance!" Mai celebrates enthusiastically from the tree line.

"That was too easy..." Hikari notes suspiciously. "Why would they allow themselves to be taken out like that? Something doesn't seem right."

“That’s three so far!" Mai laughs to herself as she reloads another fragmentation warhead into her RPG-7.”

"I suppose we had Hikari." Emi looks down at the corpses of the combatants they had taken out. Although...something about them seems...off.

"Uh....Emi...I don't think those were players." Chiara pats down one of the bodies and sees they aren't carrying as much gear as they should be carrying. Her attention is quickly shifted when she sees a glare from a scope from behind Emi in the trees. "Emi get down!"

Emi drops to the ground to take cover as they start taking sniper fire. "Dammit, I should have known. They were trying to trap us. Those weren't players, they were NPC reinforcements!"

"Emi, Chiara! Get out of there!" Mai and Hikari shout from their position. Suddenly they start taking cover as they take gunfire north from Emi and Chiara.

"Ambush! Find cover! Return fire!" Emi shouts as she crawls through the ground desperately to find cover behind one of the stacks of logs with Chiara. "They were expecting us, Chiara. Dammit.....dammit!" She reaches for her radio and calls Tomio. "Tomio! We've been ambushed! We took down three AI reinforcements but now we're under fire!"

When Tomio's signal goes through, Emi can hear a lot of chaotic gunfire and explosions from Tomio's end. "Same here. We're being bombarded by artillery.....hang on!" A long bang could be heard over the radio. "We're doing our best to hold our position in the village by staying indoors. If you have control over part of the logging camp, try to hold on as much as you can."

"I'll do what I can Tomio." She closes communications with Tomio before addressing the girls. "We're holding positions, we must not lose our control of the logging camp. Fire at will!"

"Understood, Emi!" Hikari peaks over the fallen tree trunk she's been using for cover to suppress the enemy with a volume of fire. Mai does the same with her Type 56 SKS as she tries to engage the enemy which she can assume is hiding behind cover of some of the logging machinery. Meanwhile, Emi and Chiara desperately try to move from their cover but every time Emi tries to peek out of cover, she immediately takes sniper fire. "We can't escape Chiara."

Just as the girls receive fire, a loud rumbling sound starts to creep up on them. From the opposite end of the logging camp, an M1A1 Abrams Tank emerges with reinforcements taking cover from behind as they fire upon Armadillo Squad.

"Enemy Tank! I got this!" Mai shouts in her comms as peaks up from the cover behind the trees to aim her RPG. She fires the rocket directly at the front of the tank but sees nothing but a light explosion.

"Mai! That tank barely looks scratched." Hikari shouts from across Mai's position.

"I used the wrong warhead...hang on!" Mai pats her RPG carrier on her back but her face goes pale. "Oh....that's not good."

"Oh Mai....please don't tell me..." Hikari sighs desperately.

"Mai! Can you hurry up and take out that tank! We're sitting ducks out here."

"I'm sorry Emi, but I am out of warheads." Mai says sorrowfully.

"What do you mean you're out?! Don't tell me you didn't pick up any HEAT warheads for your RPG-7! Mai! Everyone, we have to fall back to the gas station We have to get to..."

"Emi....Run!" Chiara pulls Emi as she runs behind the log cover just in the moment the M1A1 Abrams Tanks aim at their cover and fires. Shrapnel and chunks of logs scatter all over. If Emi and Chiara would have stayed behind the cover, they would have been ripped to shreds. The force of the blast is enough to knock Chiara and Emi off their balance and fall onto the floor. Emi's ears are ringing and she's become partially deaf apart from hearing the occasional gunfire and bullets whizzing past her position. She can hear Chiara screaming her name. "Emi! Emi! Emi get up! We have to go!"

"Emi gets up from the ground, grips her rifle tightly and starts to make a dash to the woods back where Hikari and Mai are taking cover. They receive more fire and another shot from the tank which knocks down some trees right behind them. When they both reach Hikari and Mai, Emi wastes no time to explain anything else. "Quickly! Get to the UTV!" Just as they try to dash for the UTV, a shot from the tank blasts it into a heap of scrap which nearly strikes the girls. "Forget it, just run! Split up and run for your lives!"

The girls slightly spread apart as they ran back to the gas station. The whole scene is pathetic. The squad has completely lost cohesion and professionalism as they run from the enemy. The thoughts of winning the match are completely out of the question. All that's in Emi's and everyone else's mind is to get away from the gunfire. Chiara is not too far off from Emi while she's retreating as the rest, but another blast from the tank strikes close to her and knocks her onto her knees, knocking over more trees. Her vision is completely disoriented and her sense of direction is lost. All she can think about is getting back up and running like her life depends on it. Despite knowing this is all just a game, just a simulation, it sure doesn't feel like it to Chiara. Especially compared to her first match against Longhorn Squad where the whole thing just felt like a sport, this is almost the real deal. She keeps running, tripping, and moving until her fatigue gets the best of her and she rests once the gunfire is no longer present.

Chiara sits behind a tree, catching her breath as she tries to collect her thoughts of what just happened. She has no idea how far she has ran. She doesn't realize how far off course she really is. Chiara peaks around and doesn't see any of her squad mates anywhere. She picks up her radio and tries to contact Emi and the others. "Emi! Are you there? Mai? Hikari? Where are you guys?" She releases the Push to Talk (PTT) but gets nothing but a short static. She notices her radio is partially cracked and shot to bits. "No...no no no no....ah~" The reality of her situation gets to her and she realizes she's all alone with no way to communicate. She falls into a fetal sitting position and begins to weep softly.

Meanwhile in the northern village, Tomio and his squad are taking cover inside a residential structure in the village. The painted walls have bullet holes and bits of shrapnel letting in streaks of light into the ruined interior of the house. Tomio, Fio and Ramirez are taking cover inside a closet right under a staircase. It's dark, dusty and there's barely any room for them to move around in hiding all while they hear artillery shells slamming around their location One single shell could wipe them out completely..

"I can't believe they are using their support abilities so early!" Fio complained while she snuggled close to her squad mates. "Glam squad isn't playing around. They seriously want us dead!"

"It doesn't help that these houses are all using composite wood. So cheap..." Ramirez commented. "Half of the furniture people order at the warehouses break before we can even load them onto trucks."

"We can't stay here for too long. They'll strip this house until we're all that's left."

"Have any plans, Tomio?"

"I really wish we can call Armadillo Squad for backup, but they are having a hard time at the longing camp. We have to make a run for another building."

"At least until their artillery barrage is over?"

"Exactly, and we'll have to hold the town and prepare for close quarter combat."

"Heh. Sounds like my kind of party." Ramirez smirked.

"Uh...I hate getting dirty up close. What about Kimberly? Will she be alright?"

"No worries Fio." Tomio reaffirmed. "Kimberly is going to patrol the woods south from us to see if the enemy is trying anything sneaky. The last thing we need is to be surrounded. If she can make a link with Armadillo Squad, we'll be able to bridge a support line between our squads and might turn this battle around...or at least I hope so."

Emi, Mai, and Hikari finally made it to the gas station. Everyone is completely out of breath, but Emi keeps calling for Chiara over her radio. "Chiara! Where are you?! Come on! Pick it up already!" She lowers her radio in frustration. "I can't communicate with Chiara. She's gone missing." She sighs and then glares furiously at Mai. "Mai, why weren't you carrying more warheads?!"

"I was carrying the max amount...just not the right ones.." Mai mumbles regretfully.

"How could you be so...ugh....are the warheads so indistinguishable from each other that you got them mixed up before the match?"

"No...no...they are quite distinct but..."

"But what?!! Why aren't you carrying HEAT warheads Mai?!!" Emi shouts furious at Mai which even shocks Hikari who has never seen anyone else getting angry at Mai.

"The...they're so expensive Emi...I couldn't bring myself to buy some before the match."

"Mai...you know we're competing in a tournament right?! You know better than all of us that we were eventually going to go up against armor at some point!?" She walks up to Mai and looks at her HUD to do a credit check on Mai. It clearly shows that she has plenty of credits saved.

"Well you're not broke Mai. In fact, you have saved more than Hikari and me. Why couldn't you just spend a little to at least give us some anti-tank capabilities?! Come on! What's wrong with you?!" Emi's tone is harsh enough to make Mai shutter in shame.

"Emi...I'm....I'm so sorry..."

"You know we just lost our hold of the logging camp and now we lost Chiara because you were too cheap to buy the right warheads for your rocket launcher. You're our anti-tank specialist and you couldn't even do that right!!"

"Emi, please cut her some slack." Hikari finally interjects in a calming voice as she can see Emi is really starting to break Mai down. "Mai is just frugal. You can't blame her." Hikari sighs. "She didn't have it as good as either of us growing up. She had to make do with what she had, assuming she had anything at all. It's not her fault, she's like this."

"Hikari..." Mai's voice softly cracks after witnessing Hikari come to her support. It was not expected at all but it makes her feel less guilty about her behavior. Even Emi is in awe and starts to feel a little upset at herself for being too harsh on Mai.

"Mai...look...I'm sorry...I got a little carried away with my anger. I just...I just want our squad to be the best, even if we lose this in the end. I really should be more considerate, especially because I'm a sorry excuse of a psychology major...I just..." Emi's eyes dart to the ground at her boots. "I've already let Chiara down. I failed to protect her a second time...all I can ask is if I can at least protect you two, and maybe Tomio's squad if we get the chance."

"I...I understand Mai...it's still my fault. I promise I won't cheap out on equipment next time. You have my word, Emi."

"Thank you Mai. We may have lost the logging camp but we still have this gas station. Do you think we can make fortifications here before the enemy arrives?"

"I can get it done in ten...no....five minutes." Mai agrees obediently as she takes out her sapper's shovel. I'll make some trenches, ditches and lay some barbed wire around the gas station."

"I won't have you do it alone, I'll give you a hand Mai."

"Count me in too." Hikari smiles as she joins in."

"Thanks you two...I...I think we might be able to turn this battle around. You still have your support troops at the ready?"

"Yeah. I'll call in for reinforcements when the enemy starts to approach."

"But what about that tank?"

"We're going to have to get creative with that." Emi notes as she looks at the refueling tanks in the gas station. "I wonder if these have fuel in them?"

“Huh? What for? Our UTV is down.”

“We’re going to make some cocktails for that tank.” Mai answers Hikari’s question.

Chiara slowly gets up from the ground, checking her gear to see if anything else is damaged. Other than her radio and her uniform being slightly ripped, she still has her MP5SD and Taurus TX22 Compact by her side. Her crossbow is also fine but she only has one explosive dart and a zip-line dart. Nothing strong enough to take on that tank even if she wanted to. Other than that, she has a utility knife and a couple of lite medical supplies to deal with minor wounds. Her equipment is pretty sparse. She has three magazines left with a fourth magazine completely empty from her MP5. Her side arm has two magazines but she doesn't want to use them unless absolutely necessarily. Chiara wished she got a compass or something as she's completely lost. Her vision is surrounded by no landmarks other than the vast wilderness of the first around her. She only vaguely knows the direction of the logging camp but even that's debatable to her.

"She begins to see a group of armed figures across the horizon of the trees but she quickly realizes that the group in question is not Armadillo Squad. She gets down on the ground and hides behind a thick tree, just barely wide enough to hide her small figure. She grips onto her submachine gun in her hands, round in the chamber and ready to go. Still, she knows well enough her submachine gun won't be enough to defend herself against the squad approaching her direction. All she can do is hide and hope for the best. She hides quietly, not making a single noise. Even her breathing is suppressed despite her heart racing to the point where she might panic very easily if she had no self control. The ruffles of the forest floor get louder as this squad moves in closer and closer until eventually the footsteps stop. It's downright quiet other than the sound of the breeze and the forest. An unexpected groan from a voice, that sounds no older than 13 years old breaks the silence.

"No cap, I saw them ran this way, on god."

"Yeah, well look around you. They aren't here, Squeaker." Another voice, this time belonging to someone with an Afrikaans accent. "I told you we should have gone to the gas station. We can't even bring the tank over here to finish the freaking job."

"Serves you right for listening to the little scrub." Another voice with a Korean accent speaks. "The kid should be in bed, not playing in a serious tournament."

"First of all, it's barely Saturday morning for our American friend here, so get your facts straight Sung-min. Second, at least the battle royal kid wasn't trying to bunny hop his way through the woods like a prancing little princess! You know this isn't an arena shooter?"

"So why the hell did you lie to me and say that hopping would make me move faster, Zander?!"

"Because it was fucking funny. That's why. Jesus, you looked so ridiculous man. Sometimes I wonder if I hired a professional group of gamers, or a professional circus act."

"Ha! How does it feel to be an outclassed, Boomer shooter?!" Squeaker mocks Sung-Min while flossing.

"Don't act so full of yourself, Squeaker, we still have to wipe out that squad we scared off earlier." Zander then gets a call from his radio. "Ah Christ...it's the twins again." He picks up his radio. "Uh huh....yeah?....What?!...Are you joking?...but....gwah... fine!" He puts his radio down. "Everyone listen up! The wonderful twins of Glam Squad want us to go north and join them to wipe out the survivors of the village they bombarded into kingdom come."

"But what about the squad we're after, Zander?

"Fuck all we can do about them. We're getting paid to do whatever Glam Squad tells us to do. I don't have a say in anything of this. I'll just let Andjela have a go at them."

Chiara can hear a rifle rack but nothing else for a reply.

"You're seriously going to let her take on a squad all by herself?" Sung-min asks, baffled.

"Of course. She's our scout and sniper. She's a Serbian killing machine I tell you. Hunting and stalking is her specialty. As for the rest of us. We'll head up north and support the twin's assault."

"But what about the logging camp?"

"The two members of Glam squad and their Abrams tank will stay there and defend it. I doubt the enemy is going to try and take them on again. They went at us with fragmentation warheads. Seriously! What were they thinking?! Amateurs!" Zander laughs and shakes his head. "I could have sworn I saw Mai too.

“You believe Mai is on the other team?” Sung-Min asks with an intrigued tone. “Damn, it’s been a while since we saw her.”

“I swear on me mum that was her. You remember how she fights Sung-Min. Honestly, I was hoping for a challenge but maybe we got a shot at winning this stupid tournament. You know one of the twins used to be part of Flamingo squad? They got real fucking close to winning the big lot. We are dealing with stuck ups but I think they know what they are doing."

"Man, I hope so..."

"Stop being such a downer bro. Their squads are a joke, we're literally just pushing their shit in for real." Squeaker bragged as the squad's voices started to fade as did their footsteps.

"I'm just saying, Squeaker. They seem like the kind of squad that seems to deploy all of their best toys in one go and then make squads like us go in and do all the dirty fighting for them while they sit back and relax. It just seems kind of lazy if you ask me." After that statement, Chiara can no longer hear any coherent conversations.

When the voices are gone, Chiara looks around the corner and sighs in relief once they are gone. But now she has something else to worry about. Emi and Tomio. They are in grave danger. She has to make a choice, she can try to run towards the gas station, wherever that may be and try to warn Emi and hopefully Tomio of the enemy's plans. Alternatively, she can head back to the logging camp and try to deal with that M1A1 Abrams tank. She doesn't have any anti-tank capabilities other than her C4 charges, but she thinks she might be able to sabotage the tank another way if she assaults the logging camp again on her own. She ponders about it for a bit before making her decision.

Chapter 14: Battle of the Woods Pt. 3: Turning Tides

Bernadette, now wearing her black skateboarder helmet, observes the artillery show through her binoculars. Houses and neighborhoods are blown into bits. A once thriving village is torn apart by the explosive barrage into a mess of carnage and debris. It’s a hellish scene for those observing and for the squad being bombarded within the village. But the girl observing from her vantage point on an eastern lookout point isn’t horrified by the destruction of her squad’s artillery. She lowers her binoculars and looks back to her sister, Cheyenne, who is laying on a beach chair, reading a book. “Hey Sis. You’re seriously missing these fireworks.”

”I had my fair share of fireworks, Bernadette.” Cheyenne says nonchalantly. “It’s your first battle in Mil-Sim Story. You’ll get over the excitement pretty soon. This is just all business as usual for me.” The shelling continues as the sisters communicate with each other. “I’m hoping Zander can hurry up and get to the village. We’re going to make them clean up our mess.”

Should we seriously put our victory in the hands of a bunch of mercs, Cheyenne?” Her sister frowns. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could snatch victory for ourselves. Your old squad almost had it during the summer tournament.”

”No...I was foolish and reckless going up against Raptor Squad in the last tournament. I’m not making that mistake again. Our ammo and resources are expensive. Especially our tank which we cannot risk losing.”

”That’s so lame.” Bernadette groans.

”Our tank crew did their job. They scared off Armadillo squad and scattered them. Kraken PMC is leaving their specialist behind to finish the job while they’ll come here to the village to put an end to the match once and for all.” Cheyenne puts her book down and gets up from her beach chair. She takes a hold of her M16A2 with a M203 grenade launcher. The same rifle she used with Flamingo Squad. “I have one 40mm grenade left. I don’t want to waste it..” At last the artillery barrage finishes and the village is nearly completely wiped off the map save for a few buildings which are in a terrible state of repairs.

”Hey Sis. Zander is approaching.” Bernadette sees him coming up from the hill. Once Zander and his two squad mates meet up with the twins. The red headed mercenary with a plaid button up shirt and tactical plate carrier is accompanies by two other mercs. One them is a big Korean guy towering overing his squadmates and wielding a Mk-47 (An AR-AK hybrid), and another is a younger squad member with glasses and a stylized currly hair. Unlike his peers, he is wearing a hawaiian shirt and is carrying a XM177 like Bernadette. The three mercenaries gives a quick salute while addressing the twins.

”Bloody Hell. You left us quite the mess here. Surely there’s going to be some collateral damage from all this.”

”I’m not worried about collateral damage, Zander. We’ll be more than happy to pay for any infrastructure damage my ordinance caused. It pales in comparison to what we spent hiring you and our tank, so listen up so I don’t feel like I wasted my investment.” Cheyenne points over to the village ruins. “My sister spotted a squad of four in the area. Your task is to take your squad into the village and wipe out whatever resistance the enemy squad has left.”

”You’re making us fight them room to room? Well...that's something my mercenaries and I can handle.”

”Good. Don’t be reckless, Zander. We better hope your sniper can destroy Armadillo Squad, before they catch wind of our plan.”

”Pfft. No worries. I’m quite confident my scout will bring them to their knees.” Zander then turns to address his squad. “Alright boys. We’re going to be doing a bit of janitorial work in that village. Wipe them out, come out alive, and we’ll get our bonus from the twins. Don’t screw it up.”

Zander and his mercenaries descend down the slope and head for the ruined village. Once they are out of earshot, Bernadette whispers to her sister: “Psst...are you sure we can trust them to clear the village?”

”Zander and his squad know what they are doing. They are all gamers of some form. One of them is a former arena shooter champion, the youngest one a former battle royal expert, and their scout has played numerous hunting games in VR.” Cheyenne joins her sister to overlook the battlefield. She doesn’t bother with binoculars and just watches with her arms crossed and her rifle slung by her side. “Zander can be a bit of a hot head. A lot of his previous mercenaries in his squad had quit because of his strict standards. He’ll take anyone in but fail him once and he’ll be upfront about it.”

”And what about us sis?”

”We’ll wait until Zander calls us in. Hopefully when the village is clear and not for reinforcements. Until then, put on another cassette tape for me. Battlefield ambiance isn’t my groove right now.”

Emi and her squad had hunkered down by the gas station. It’s awfully quiet. The barrage from the north where Tomio and his squad were taking fire has been silenced. Emi picks up her radio to check on Tomio when suddenly, the girls hear nearby gunfire coming from the woods. It sounds like a submachine gun going off against a full size rifle caliber.

”That can’t be Chiara. Her submachine gun is suppressed.” Mai remarks as she aims her rifle towards the direction of the gunfire.”

”Yeah...it’s coming north from where Tomio should be...but this gunfire is very close. Stay sharp girls.”

Emi’s radio starts to crackle as the gunfire continues. She can hear Kimberly’s voice calling in. “Armadillo Squad, Come in! I need a medic! I’ve been shot at by an enemy sniper north of your position.” Emi can hear the exchange of fire still ongoing. “I can still fire back but not for long. The sniper has got my shoulder, but I won’t last long without a medic.”

”Understood! I’ll get Hikari over there ASAP! Hang on Kimberly!” Emi then points to Hikari who’s in a small trench next to Mai at the gas station. “Hikari, I need you to find Kimberly up north and take out that sniper if you can.”

”I’ll do my best Emi.” Hikari gets up from the trench, charges her AN-94 and heads for the dense woodlands up north.

”Mai. Can you construct an emergency sled and follow Hikari?”

”Can do. Will you be alright here by yourself?”

”I hope so Mai.” Emi looks out towards the north. “I just hope that tank doesn’t come at us again. At least you’ll be in the woods where it won’t be able to traverse.”

Kimberly is barely taking cover behind a tree as she exchanges blind fire with the sniper. Every time she exposes herself from cover, the sniper takes close shots at her, barely missing. She does not have a visual of what she’s being shot at but she can only assume it’s a rifle caliber and semi-auto. Her vision is pulsing red from her shoulder wound. As she reloads her MAT-49, She takes a shot in the leg. “Crap….not good!” She attempts to pull herself closer behind the tree to make herself a small target. She can’t move from her position. She blind fires her MAT-49 once more before her mag is empty. She no longer has the strength as her vision and stamina begin to drain. She hears the enemy’s footsteps slowly approaching. Kimberly grabs a flash bang from her chest rig and is ready to blind the enemy before going out. A new burst of gunfire, one which sounds like a two round burst approaches her. She recognizes that gunfire. The enemy returns sniper fire but it’s directed towards the new shooter.

“Hikari! Close your eyes!” Kimberly throws her flash-bang behind her cover which flashes and explodes. Kimberly cannot look over and see if she successfully blinded the enemy but hearing another burst of two rounds from Hikari followed by a subtle thump on the ground makes her sigh in relief.

”I’m here Kimberly! Just hang on for me.” Hikari dashes over to Kimberly and begins to address her wounds with her medical supplies.

”Ha….you made it. I thought I was done for.” Kimberly’s blood lose is stabilized but she’s clearly in no condition to fight anymore.

”Sorry Kimberly, this is the best I could do for you. I’ll have you evacuated from the battlefield at the gas station, alongside the girl I just took out?”

”The enemy sniper?”

”Yeah. I wounded her. Let me go nurse her wounds.” Hikari gets up to check on the sniper she just shot at. She’s on the ground, still trying to recover her vision from that flash-bang. Her right sleeve has two bullet holes in close proximity and is red in hue from where Hikari shot her. “You’re coming along too. There. All patched up. Don’t try anything stupid you hear?” She aims her AN-94 after patching the wounded sniper and makes her stand up. The girl doesn’t say anything but looks irritated that she’s being held captive. Hikari pats her to check for any weapons or intel. She retrieves her Zastava M9 sniper rifle which was laying on the ground, a Makarov PM pistol, a radio not too different from her own, a paper map of the area with hand drawn markings indicating her trail, a camping knife, and a gold orthodox cross necklace. The girl’s radio comes on as an Afrikaner’s voice comes through.

”Andjela. We’ve made contact with the twins. They had finished their bombardment and now we’re going into the village to clear out the hostiles. Rendezvous with us at the village when you’re down with your hunting expedition. Don’t leave a single member of Armadillo Squad alive.” When the call ends, Hikari can see the frustration growing as she shakes her head vigorously and almost looks like she wants to scream but doesn’t say anything.

”Ah...sounds like they are going to attack Tomio’s squad. You have to tell Emi, Hikari.” Kimberly groans as Hikari brings the sniper with her.

”We’re still at full strength, but we’re missing Chiara. I’ll make sure to let Emi know once we can get you both to safety.”

”Ah man...I missed out on something intense didn’t I?” Mai’s voice calls from the south as she drags a makeshift sled behind her. “Look at that! Hikari saved the day, and got us a prisoner too. Impressive.”

”We can’t waste time, Mai. Tomio’s squad is about to be assaulted by the mercenaries, we have to tell Emi about our intel.” Mai helps put Kimberly on the sled as Hikari keeps her AN-94 rifle pointed at the sniper. “Let’s get moving.” Mai and Hikari traverse back to the gas station with their wounded.

A male soldier wearing M81 woodland camo, a grease gun in .45 ACP and a bandanna stands in the center of the logging camp alongside his squad mate who is sitting on the tank, taking pot shots at some empty ammo cans from their position using his compact GAU-5 carbine. “I can’t believe the twins left us here to do nothing for the rest of the match.” The soldier complains as he throws a pebble at one of the sheds in the camp. “If I knew we were barely going to see any action, I would have joined another squad.”

The soldier taking pot shots at the empty ammo cans lowers his rifle once all the cans have been knocked out. “Tell me about it. We’re supposed to be one of the more promising squads with a member from Flamingo Squad. We seriously won this skirmish without a single casualty other than our mercenaries’ ai units.” He moves up and sits on the turret of the M1A1 Abrams with his eyes directed towards the west. “We could have easily brought our tank towards the gas station and straight for the airport.”

”The twins were worried about them laying landmines or something. As if.” The soldier hears what sounds like a tree branch cracking but doesn’t seem alerted as he continues to speak. “Those girls we went up against didn’t put up much of a fight. They didn’t even have anti-tank warheads for crying out loud. Isn’t that just sad?” He looks up at his squad mate who is laying on his back. “And now you’re slacking off too.” He knocks on his legs to wake him up. “Come on. This is no time to nap. We’re still in a match! Hey get up!” He notices his squad mate is completely unconscious. “Oh shit….” He quickly lifts his M3 Grease Gun and starts aiming around him. “Come on, show yourself you coward!’

THUNK! The soldier drops his submachine gun as he feels a heavy mass hitting his back. He sees a large bolt with a heavy string attached to the bolt. He tries to pull it off but he can’t reach and falls to the ground, still alive but injured. He attempts to reach for his M3 but a boot kicks it away from him. He looks up and sees a girl with pale skin, reddish hair, holding him at gunpoint with a silenced submachine gun.

”Y...You’re my prisoner now….don’t resist….or I’ll shoot!” The girl’s voice is shaky and it looks like she’s been crying.

Hikari and Mai approach the fortified gas station with Kimberly laying on the makeshift sled stretcher. The enemy sniper with a bandaged right arm is being held by gunpoint by Hikari as they walk towards Mai who is sitting outside of the makeshift trench. Emi is relieved to see Hikari and Mai return safely but frowns when she notices Kimberly is injured.

”Oh hi, Emi! Good to see you again right? Oh...don’t mind me, I’m just crippled.”

”You sound awfully cheerful for someone who’s just been shot, Kimberly.”

Kimberly chuckles but her coughing interrupts her before speaking again. “Your squad managed to subdue the enemy sniper. I think she was trying to ambush you and wipe you out. But I was able to intercept her. She’s quite the good shot as you can tell.”

”Uh huh…” Emi looks over at the enemy sniper. She’s a girl with dark brown hair, tied into a side ponytail with a bright red bow. She’s not necessarily wearing a uniform as she wears a plate carrier over a dark gray plaid shirt tucked into a multi-cam skirt. She does appear to be enthusiastic about being captured. “You there. What’s your name, mercenary?” Emi waits for the girl to respond but she says nothing.

”Oh so that’s the game we’re going to play huh?” Mai snarls at the POW sniper. “You know I have ways of making people talk.” She pops her knuckles with her hands in a very unconvincing manner as if to appear menacing.

”You aren’t punching anyone today Mai.” Hikari sighs. “I don’t think she’s capable of speaking.”

The sniper girl nods reluctantly. She tries to point to the ground but all of the girls aim their weapons at her, which makes her raise her hands up again.

”Wait, hold your fire! I think she’s trying to do something harmless.” Emi commands her squad mates. “She’s disarmed anyways.” The sniper girl lowers her hands before kneeling on the ground. She uses her finger to write on the dirt. Emi looks over the writing which states “Mic broke, no speak.” Seems like her English isn’t all that great either.

”Oh...your hardware isn’t working. I’m sorry to hear that…” Emi notes as she eyes her name tag patch located just right the Kraken patch on her plate carrier. “Andjela is your name? I’m Emi. I’m the squad leader of Armadillo Squad. You were trying to hunt us out weren’t you?” Andjela confirms Emi’s question with a nod. “Well you can forget about that. Your time on this battlefield is over.” Emi looks over to Hikari who is making a call on her radio for a medical evacuation.

”Oh Emi...just a heads up, Tomio and the rest are holding up just fine after the barrage. Although they are going to get an assault from the rest of Kraken PMC.” Kimberly mentioned as she lays on her makeshift stretcher. “I have no idea what Glam squad is up to unfortunately, but they issued the barrage back in the village.”

”Then we have no choice but to go and support Tomio. He’ll be outnumbered and outgunned if both squads go in for the assault.

”If we strike at the right moment, we might be able to flank them by a surprise attack, Emi.” Mai suggested. “They would not expect us to support Longhorn’s defense.”

”Still, we can’t just abandon this gas station. This outpost is the only thing preventing that tank from the logging camp from getting access to our spawn at the airstrip. We lose that airstrip and the match is over for us.”

”Oh. You mean that tank over there.” Kimberly points and mentions casually as up the horizon, the M1A1 tank from earlier pulls up from the east, coming down the same road Armadillo squad drove through in their UTV transport vehicle.

”Aw...crap...Look alive Armadillo Squad. We got company.” Emi shouts as everyone takes cover into the trenches. Mai holds the sniper and shoves her down into the trench. Hikari looks over at Kimberly.

”Kimberly, let me get you to cover.” She tries to pick up the makeshift stretcher.

”Go on without me. I can’t really help you all anymore. Sorry.” Kimberly informs Hikari much to her dismay. “Whatever happens, I’ll see you at the end of the match. Just try to win this match without me, okay?

”We’ll do what we can...thank you Kimberly.” Hikari runs to the trench and hops into cover next to Mai and the Sniper. Emi peaks over the trench to observe the tank which is slowly approaching.

”Can we do anything to stop that tank, Mai?!” Emi calls over to Mai in the trench.

”I’m afraid we don’t have anything other than our Molotov cocktails. Let’s hope our barbwire and ditches hinder it to buy us some time.”

”We’ll have to make our stand here. Get ready girls. Here it comes.” Emi sees the tank pull up right at the barbed wire perimeter before coming to a stop. Her heart feels like it could stop the moment that tank opens fires on them. This could be the end of Armadillo Squad. This match might have to be carried by Tomio, Fio, and Ramirez. She wishes she could just call in Tomio to provide her some artillery support but he’s probably going to need it for his defense of the village real soon. Her emergency airborne infantry support won’t do her any good against that tank. It’s starting to feel hopeless for Emi but she’s not planning on running away like last time. Her squad will make their stand and they won’t lose without giving that tank a good fight with whatever they have. They have their molotov cocktails ready, hoping that they would do something against the Abrams tank.

To their surprise, The tank did not proceed past the barbed wire defenses. In fact, the turret has not fired upon the girls at all. It just sits there, the engine is rumbling before finally being cut off. Something catches Emi’s eyes on the exterior of the tank. There are C4 charges placed along the gaps of the turret and the tracks. The hatch of the tank opens from the top. Emi readies her M4A1 by aiming her red dot sight towards the hatch. “Steady…..steady girls.”

A guy in woodland camo comes out with his hands up. He’s visibly shaking, and appears to have a crossbow dart embedded onto his back. He’s completely unarmed. “Don’t shoot! I surrender!” The guy in the woodland camo shouts while getting out of the hatch.

”Why is the enemy surrendering when he could had easily wiped out her squad with that tank?” Emi ponders to herself but soon realizes what’s really going on. “Are you the only one in that tank?!” She demands directly towards the soldier.

”N...no.” The guy stutters as he’s finally out of the tank. Emi motions Mai to hop out of the trench and address the new POW. Emi looks over to the hatch again and sees an MP5SD6 plopped over the hatch before a familiar pale face peeks out of the hatch.

”Chiara!” Emi shouts as she vaults over the trench to run up and hug Chiara as she hops out of the tank. She embraces her tightly once she’s reunited with Chiara, planting a friendly kiss on her forehead as she hugs her best friend. “I...I thought we lost you...what happened, Chiara? How did you…”

”My radio broke Emi...I couldn’t communicate with you all.” Chiara murmured through her tears. “I...I was almost caught by Kraken Squad. I overheard them. They...They are going to attack the village.”

”We know that. We caught one of their snipers.” Hikari noted to Chiara. “We’re so glad you’re okay Chiara. How the heck did you capture their tank? That’s some insane stunt you pulled off you know.”

”I got lucky...that was it. I managed to take out one of their guys and capture that one over there.”

”Y...Yeah...my squad mate and I let our guard down...our squad leaders were keeping up static when we could have easily wiped you out.” The POW mentioned as Mai sits him over next to the mercenary sniper.

”That was really dumb of you to lose your guard like that.” Mai commented. “Who are your squad leaders anyways? I know Zander is leading his mercenaries...”

”They are twins. Bernadette and Cheyenne. The latter was a former member of Flamingo Squad.”

”Well...no shit. We’re going up against some serious competition this early.” Mai shakes her head and smirks.

”So it looks like you’re getting the hang of your scouting role Chiara.” Kimberly’s voice rings out to Chiara which catches her attention.

”Kimberly! You’re here too?” Chiara lets go of Emi and notices the injured state she’s in. “W...what happened?”

”Oh this...just got into a little firefight with that sniper over there. Nothing too crazy, but I’m pretty much done for the match.” She looks over at Chiara’s sadden expression. “Hey, cheer up. I didn’t get killed in action. The medical evacuation I’m getting is going to benefit our team's credit income at the end of the match. Not to mention the POWs you captured.”

”Yeah...yeah..that’s good you aren’t executing us on sight.” The woodland soldier interjects. “Please don’t damage our M1A1 Abrams. That thing cost our squads a fortune!”

”So did our UTV which you blew up!” Mai snarls back. “But I suppose we’ll make good use of your tank. Be glad we didn’t start throwing our makeshift Molotov cocktails."

Up in the horizon, a MH-6 Little Bird is approaching the girl’s position.

”That should be the medical evacuation. I’m going to need to help with the wounded and prisoners.” Hikari tells the girls as she takes the stretcher where Kimberly is laying on. Chiara comes over to help lift the stretcher with Hikari as Mai and Emi wrangle the prisoners over to where the Little Bird is landing. Some NPC helicopter crew help Hikari and Chiara lift Kimberly onto the helicopter. The POWs are handcuffed and sat upon the helicopter.

”We’ll let Tomio know you have been evacuated safely.” Emi informs Kimberly before backing away from the helicopter.

”Thanks, Emi. Send Ramirez my regards too. I’ll see you all at the post match gathering. Farewell my sisters and keep on fighting the good fight!” With those last words, Kimberly and the POWs are airlifted in the helicopter and are flown out of the battlefield. Emi looks over to Chiara, Mai, and Hikari who are still with her, unharmed and ready for action. It’s a miracle they have managed to stick around this long into the match. “Alright girls. Looks like we’re done camping here at the gas station. Our new objective is to support Tomio’s defense of the village and ambush Kraken squad and potentially the twins of Glam squad if they can stop being cowards this entire match.”

”We’re going to see more action aren’t we?” Hikari asked with uncertainty in her voice.

”Unfortunately so, but we have the upper hand now. We’re going to show them everything we got. They’ll regret ever going up against Armadillo Squad or Longhorn Squad.” Emi says confidentially as she picks up her radio to call Tomio about her plan. “Tomio…you’re still alive? Great! We have some news for you and your squad. Don’t worry, it’ll all work out if we pull this off.”

Chapter 15: Battle of the Woods Pt. 4: The Finale

Zander strolls through the ruined center of the village. Squeaker and Sung-min follow behind in a diamond formation. Their rifles are at the ready as Zander overlooks the situation. “Eish! There’s nothing left of this village. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were blown up into dust at this point.” He racks the charging handle of his Vector R4, a South African copy of a Galil assault rifle in 5.56. “It would seriously make my job a lot easier. Alright boys. Spread out and don’t leave any hole or rubble unchecked. If it moves, kill it.”

The squad splits up and starts looking around for Longhorn squad. Zander has a feeling they must have taken shelter from the bombardment. Surely they can’t be that stupid to say on the surface. “Zander! I found something!” Sung-min calls from his left side.

”Careful! Don’t fall for any booby traps!” Zander comes over to inspect what Sung-min found. Near a pile of rubble next to the road is an intact motion tracking device. It appears to have been tripped already. “Those cheeky bastards.” Zander pulls out his Browning Hi Power and shoots the motion tracker. “The cowards know we are here. Don’t let them pull a fast one on us….aaaahhh….piss.

Zander hears a high pitch whistle from up above. “Move your asses!” Zander and Sung-Min spread out as an artillery shell came down upon them, nearly taking them out and exploding upon impact. Dirt and debris scatter all over them. “I thought Glam squad was done with their bombardment. What the hell?”

”That’s not Glam Squad! It’s the enemy’s own artillery! Fuck!” Zander lunges over more rubble as more shells start raining down upon his squad. “We need to find cover! A basement! Anything!”

”Yo! I found a basement over here! You should come see this! This is bussin’!” Squeaker yells from across the road of the village.

”Ag...whatever! That’s our spot! Move move move!” Zander and Sung-Min dash to Squeaker's position. Squeaker waves to his squad mates with his XM177 by his side as he holds up a steel door leading into an underground basement. They get inside as Zander closes the door shut. It’s pitch black in the basement but the squad activates their weapon lights. Their tactical torches illuminate what appears to be an ammo stash. Crates of ammo inside a dark basement. The ceiling above shakes from the impact of the shells impacting the surface above.

”Seesh! Looks like we hit the bag big time.” Squeaker gloats enthusiastically.

”How convenient.” Zander scoffs. “Those idiots didn’t even take shelter here. Stock up on any ammo you find. We wasted quite a bit at the logging camp.” The squad of mercenaries plunder through the crates looking for some ammo.

”This is worthless! There’s no 7.62 anywhere!”

”Didn’t I tell you to settle with 5.56? Don’t you know anything about logistics?” Zander scolds Sung-min.

”Huurr...muh stawpin powah.” Squeaker mocks Sung-min openly.

”I’ll show you stopping power with my fist if you don’t shut up you little twerp!”

”Hey! Stop acting like drama queens and get your damn ammo already! Sung-min. Your Daewoo Pistol is in 9mm. There’s some over here!”

”Yo Zander! I found 5.56!”

”That’s 5.45, Squeaker! Don’t even try shooting that out of your carbine!”

Zander’s squad tops off their magazines for most of their firearms with the except of Sung-min who couldn’t obtain ammo for his Mk47. “Man...I figured 7.62 would be commonplace on the battlefield.”

”Times have changed Sung-min. Everyone is running AR style platforms and smaller intermediate rounds. Believe me, I would be using an R1 in 7.62x39 if I had my way.” Zander shrugs his shoulders. “Blame the meta-tards. Everyone wants to imitate Raptor squad and their fighting style. But that’s none of our concern right now. We’re going up against morons who think they are more clever than they actually are.”

Several minutes of bombardment go on with the mercenaries just sitting around waiting for the storm to subside. When it does eventually come to a halt, Zander motions his squad to get back up their feet. “Alright, break time is over. Time to get back on the payroll boys.” Squeaker opens the steel door of the basement allowing the squad to escape the secret ammo storage. Zander looks around at the numerous craters left by the new artillery barrage. “No more games. No prisoners. Shoot anything that moves.”

”Zander! Above us!” Squeaker shouts as he points to a C130 Hercules flying above them. Several soldiers jump out of the plane and deploy their parachutes.

”How inconvenient. Don’t let them touch the ground!” Zander and his squad aim their rifles and prepare to fire upon the airborne infantry. “Zander squeezes the trigger on his rifle once he has his sights on one of the parachutes but only gets a click on his rifle. “Dammit! Failure to fire!” He charges his rifle, ejecting the “bad round” and chambering the next round in his magazine. Another click. “Agggghh. What is this?!!!”

”My rifle is working perfectly fine, Zander!” Sung-min is the only one firing his rifle at the parachutes.

”I can’t fire my rifle either! This ain’t based at all!” Squeaker can’t get any of his rounds to ignite.

”Die sluwe verdomde klootzakke!!!” Zander shouts as he toss his bad magazine into the ground. He reloads another magazine and finds out that they are not firing either. “The primers are all bad in this ammo! They played us like a fucking banjo! ”

Suddenly, Zander’s squad starts taking local fire from numerous directions. Rifle rounds, buckshot, and other small arms fire. Zander and Squeaker run for cover behind the remains of a wrecked transport truck. Sung-min is shot in the leg. “Shit! They got me Zander!”

Just from down the street where Zander and Squeaker and taking cover, an M1A1 Abrams pulls up on the road. “Ah….hahaha….thank God! We got support.” Zander’s sense of relief was only brief when the tank started to aim its turret towards them. “Forget it! Retreat!”

”But what about Sung-min?!”

”He’s done for! Forget him!” Zander and Squeaker run towards the hill where the twins are in position.

”Wait! Don’t leave me behind!!!” Sung-min shouts as he watches his squad run from the battlefield in disgrace. He sees the tank slowly moving up towards him. He’s unable to move out of the way. “Oh God! No no no no no no AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!”

Up on the hill, Bernadette and Cheyenne are watching in horror as their entire plan falls apart before their very eyes. Cheyenne is calling Zander over the radio, trying to bring order back on the battlefield. “What the hell do you think you are doing Zander! I thought your mercenaries were professionals!”

Gunfire could be heard over the radio and in the ambiance from the twin’s vantage point. “We were tricked and ambushed. Your artillery barrage didn’t do shit, and now your own team mates are firing at us with their tank! This whole battlefield has turned Fornite! Situation is FUBAR! Repeat! Situation is FUBAR! We’re retreating back to your position!”

Meanwhile, Bernadette is trying to make communications with the tank crew. “Alex! Reagan! Cease fire! You are firing on allies! I repeat! ” Nothing returns through the radio. “Alex! Reagan! Can you hear me?! Hellooo!?” She drops her radio in disbelief. “Oh no, Alex is down….Reagan is down. We’re all that’s left.”

”AH! Why is this happening to me?!! I was doing all I can to be cautious and everything is going completely wrong!” Cheyenne screams in frustration! Why couldn’t we eliminate them?! They are just a bunch of nobodies!” She picks up the radio and instructs Zander with a stern voice. “Continue your retreat. We’re going to make our last stand on this hill. And sort out your ammo situation! Move it!” She slouches down on her beach chair. “I suppose we got no choice now. We’re going to have to fight for our survival.”

The twins do their best to fortify their positions with makeshift ditches and sandbag covers. By the time Zander and Squeaker make it up to the hill, they have their defense all ready to go.

”This is cap ...this is so cap. It’s so over!”

”Squeaker! Stop being demoralized. We can hold off the lot of them. We have the higher ground advantage. We can still win this if we hold our ground!”

As Zander finishes his “motivational speech”, something starts buzzing above the trench from a few feet away. “Oh...for the love of….”

The last remaining members of Glam and Kraken squad look up above them to the sight of a small drone carrying a couple of fragmentation grenades on a wire harness. A cute female voice is projected through a tiny speaker on the drone. “Um...is this thing working…..oh hello there! I’m Fio! I’m the drone operator of Longhorn squad! You all look lovely from up here! It would be a real shame if I were to drop these grenades on you. Hehe!”

”You sick bastards left a bunch of faulty ammo in that basement! What the hell’s the matter with you?!” Zander shouts at the drone.

”Oh…...right….sorry about that. That was all Ramirez’ idea. We all sort of expected you to come find us but I guess we’re pretty good at playing hide and seek! Anyways, as you can probably tell, this battle has already been determined. So why prolong it?!”

”We’ll never surrender to the likes of you! What did you do with our tank crew!” Cheyenne frantically asks the drone.

”Me? My Squad? Naaah. That was all Armadillo Squad.”

”But I thought we took care of that problem...” Zander says disappointingly.

”Well...that didn’t turn out as you expected. In fact, we pretty much turned the tables on you as you can probably tell. But don’t worry, we won’t prolong your suffering anymore!” The voice from the drone says gleefully. “Surrender now, and not only will you not be droned for my amusement, but we won’t have to blow up your M1A1 Abrams tank into heaps of scraps. I know you all probably paid a pretty penny for it.” The voice giggles innocently through the drone’s speakers.

”You….. you wouldn’t! I bought that tank from the savings I made from the summer tournament…no….not like this!” Cheyenne drops to her knees are starts wailing into her palms.

”Sister, we have no choice. We might as well call this match over. At the very least, we can sell off the tank and get our money back. There’s no point in prolonging all this and making it worse.” Bernadette says with sorrow in her voice. It’s a shame she wasn’t able to see her sister make a name for herself in this tournament ever since Cheyenne was booted out of Flamingo Squad after their final match.

Zander drops his rifle on the floor and raises his hands. “Yeah...sorry. I’m going to call it quits here.”

”Zander...no.”

”It’s alright Squeaker. We’ve already been paid to be here. We followed our orders and that’s all that matters. We’ll get them in the next tournament.” Squeaker hesitates before dropping his rifle and lifting his hands up.

”That’s the spirit. Now just walk downhill. We promise we won’t fire upon you. Alright girls… I’m waiting for your answer.” The drone calls from above them.

Bernadette lowers her XM117 sniper rifle and places her arm around her sister. “It’s alright Sis...I’ll surrender with you.”

Cheyenne wipes her tears from her eyes. She lowers her trusty M16A2. The one rifle that got her all throughout the last tournament. Never fired for the Fall Tournament. She hugs her sister with one arm and her other arm raises up in her final surrender. “I was too cautious for my own good Sis…” She mutters as she finally surrenders.

Tomio and Emi’s squad gather outside an intact shed within the city center as they await Fio to come out with her tablet. They see her emerge with a small smile on her face. “They accepted the terms of surrender. The battle of the woods is over everyone.” Everyone just looks at each other quietly for a moment. They’ve all gone through so much. The entire battle has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows for everyone. Tomio has lost Kimberly. Emi almost lost Chiara. But somehow, they were able to pull off a counter attack they didn’t even think they were going to be capable of. They were all cautious but daring towards the end, saving their support and firepower in a final attempt to throttle the enemy into submission, despite the odds. Tomio and Emi look at each briefly, their eyes locked onto each other.

”We did it Tomio...we actually won.” Emi says quietly. “You….you all were amazing.”

”We couldn’t have done it without your help Emi. That could have gone sideways for us too.”

The silence is finally broken as the girls of Longhorn squad break into cheers along with Tomio’s Squad. Mai fires her Hi Point C9 into the air in a celebratory fire. Hikari joins her by firing her rifle in the air too. “BANZAI!!!!!!!!!!!” Tomio and Emi embrace each other, laughing and dancing together while Fio and Chiara exchange high fives with each other. “That was incredibly brave of you to hijack a tank like that Chiara!” Fio complimented Chiara. “Everyone who’s going to watch our match is going to talk about your little stunt for weeks.”

”Ah...oh...it was nothing really.” Chiara blushes and chuckles to herself. “I just thought it was the right thing to do since I was all alone. I got really lucky the tank crew wasn't paying attention.”

”Luck? That doesn’t mean much if you were able to pull it off so effectively. You really are a great scout Chiara! I am sure Kimberly told you that before you had her evacuated.” Fio pats her on the back. You’ve done well little mouse.

”You all exceeded my expectations, girls.” Emi mentions to her squad mates. “Every single one of us had a part in our victory.”

”Likewise from us, Armadillo squad.” Tomio adds before addressing his own squad. “Fio. Nice work on getting them to surrender. Rami. Your idea of using bad primers as a trap was incredible.”

”Thanks Tomio. It’s a shame Kimberly couldn’t be here to celebrate with us. She’s the reason we were able to get Emi’s squad to support us in the end.”

”No worries Ramirez.” Hikari assured him. “Miss Kimberly was able to do her duty to the very end. We’ll be hearing from here in the lobby real soon. She’s really proud of all the work we all did today. I promise you that.”

The girls then start to disintegrate into pixels as they are transported out of the Nordic battlefield. They’ll soon get a chance to reunite with Kimberly and meet their opponents in the lobby.

”Congrats on winning the match! The way you executed that counter attack was incredibly executed!” Kimberly speaks to Armadillo and Longhorn Squad in a lobby, which differs from the previous lobby they hung out at when the two squads went up against each other. It’s a penthouse style living room area with large glass windows overlooking a dense forest outside and features a larger flat screen TV, a bar area with stools, and an interactive pool table. The room is decorated in high end Scandinavian furniture with a modern interior design and plenty of indoor plants. It’s almost reminiscent of the small dorm lobby Chiara and Emi would have lunch in but on a larger scale.

”We couldn’t have accomplished our victory without your sacrifice Kimberly.” Tomio replied. “I’d imagine your stay at this lobby was comfortable.”

”Oh yeah. The scenery here is just wonderful...oh and I had a chat with some of the POWs and baddies you all perished with.” Kimberly points to the group of people sitting at a couch next to the flat screen. A girl with a side ponytail, a Korean player, and the two tank drivers from Glam squad in their woodland camo fatigues.

”Was it really necessary to run me over with the tank? That was very unsettling.” The Korean player commented.

”Oh...sorry about that.” Emi noted as she rubbed the back of her head. “We actually didn’t know you were on the ground in front of us. Nobody in our squad could even operate the cannon.”

”That’s still impressive that you were able to drive it at all. It takes special training to control a tank effectively. Your little pale friend over there had me drive to your outpost at gun point.” The tank crew pointed to Chiara who was standing next to Emi.

”N...no hard feelings right?” Chiara asked shyly.

”You were doing what was necessary for your squad’s victory. Shame about my partner not being able to make it.” The tank crew reassured her.

”I didn’t even hear you when you shot me with that little pistol of yours.” The other tank crew member mentioned. “It was like everything went blank in a moment's notice. It wasn’t even loud enough to alert my squad mate. You are quite the ace for a scout.”

”Aw. Thanks you two. You two fought well in your tank.” Chiara bows her head smiling.

”That’s my friend Chiara alright. Quiet, kind, and nobody ever notices her!” Emi notes jokingly as she ruffles Chiara’s hair.

”Zander!!!!” Mai could be heard shouting across the lobby. “Come on! Show yourself!”

”I’m right here you blind mong.” Zander scoffs from his arm chair. “You’re still slinging around that decrepit rifle and busted up Hi-Point of yours? What’s the matter with you Mai?”

”I wouldn’t be talking trash, Zander. I beat you, when you told me I couldn’t. You kicked me out of the squad and now I kicked you out of the tournament.”

”Tsk. And now you’re full of yourself.” Zander shakes his head and sighs heavily. “You may have won this round, I’ll give you that, but don’t expect your next match to be a walk in the park. If we gave you a hard time, the next match up against your squad would really push the limits of what you and your squad are capable of.”

”Kicking your ass was all I needed from this tournament, Zander. I could care less about the other squads participating. I got my wish. Anything else would just be spoiling me. I am a girl with very minimal desires.”

”I am sure you are Mai. Whatever. Go celebrate your victory with your friends or whatever.”

”Not until I set things right with you. I want an apology, Zander.”

”You what? Isn’t winning the match good enough for you?! Fine whatever. I’m sorry for kicking you out of Kraken squad. I severely underestimated your potential.” Zander says without any heart behind his words. “There. Happy now?”

”That was half-assed, but I’ll take it. Thank you, Zander.”

As Mai departs, Squeaker pops over from behind the couch, scaring Zander. “Ag, You little shit. What do you want?”

”What’s keeping bruh down?”

”It’s nothing Squeaker. But Mai is absolutely insufferable. Be glad she’s not in our squad. I swear I had never had the misfortune of dealing with such a reckless and stubborn girl in my life.

”You two had a thing before?” Squeaker smirks.

”Ha! Fuck no. Andjela is my lass. She’s wife material I’d tell you but her microphone on her headset is broken so you wouldn’t know.” Zander lets out a nervous laugh. “Mai has beef with me because I didn’t think she’d be cut out for our PMC. I guess I was proven wrong today, I hate to admit it.”

”Seriously? No cap?”

”Yeah Squeaker...no cap.”

While Mai was settling her score with Zander, Emi can see the twins sitting by themselves across the room. Bernadette was still trying to comfort Cheyenne after their loss. It’s a miserable sight to see for Emi so she breaks off from the group to confront them. She sits by the twin’s side on the couch and addresses them softly. “Hey...I just wanted to let you know that we still kept the Abrams tank intact. Just as we promised. You two fought wisely, even if it didn’t work out in the end. I’m honored to have such skilled opponents for my first match.”

”T...thank you…” Cheyenne sniffs as she tries to ease up her sobbing. “But...it’s my fault that we lost the match. I was too cautious for my own good.”

”Hey...that’s not a bad mindset to follow sometimes.”

”Yeah but...it all failed in the end because I didn’t take the opportunities I had to claim my victory. I should have never listened to my former friends in Flamingo Squad.”

”They were critical of your combat skills weren’t they?” Emi asked in a comforting manner.

”I was always the one to go in head first into battle. But my recklessness cost my team the match against Raptor squad at the last moment.”

”I saw your last match against Raptor squad. Mai showed me the live stream the day before. You took out their sniper with your grenade launcher. And your squad’s outfits were on point.” Emi chuckled and smiled. You’re a good soldier Cheyenne, but we all occasionally make mistakes. That’s just the way we are built.

”I know...but this blunder was something I should have seen coming for my teammates.”

”That’s something that comes with every risk we take. We either win big or lose big. But if we let opportunities go by without doing anything, who knows if we’ll ever get that opportunity again.”

”Miss Emi is right, Sis.” Bernadette reassures Cheyenne as she rubs her back. “We can’t be so closed off from doing what we want to do. On the virtual battlefield or even back home. Do you remember how you told me you wanted to start up your VHS collection? We can focus on doing that now while the price of tapes are still affordable. We’re going to have the largest and most definitive collection of movies, Sis.”

”You...collect VHS movies?” Emi asks curiously.

”Y...yeah. My sister and I are film majors.” Cheyenne mentions quietly.

”That’s pretty cool. Are you two ever going to make a film someday?”

”M...maybe.” Cheyenne mentions to Emi. “That would be a dream come true.”

”It’ll be the best movie ever produced by twins! At least that’s the plan once we’re done with film school.” Bernadette starts to daydream about their fictional release of their film.

”We’ll be the first to watch it whenever you two release it.” Emi assures the twins. “You have our support.”

”Thank you...Emi.” Cheyenne wipes her eyes and smiles at Emi with a new found purpose in her life. “You know...I have a feeling you and your squad mates are going to be destined for something amazing. Maybe you’ll go at it against Raptor Squad at some point. If you do...promise me one thing.”

”Of course, Cheyenne.”

”Avenge me and Flamingo squad. Make my sister and I proud. The whole Mil-Sim Story community will start keeping their eyes on you now. Your squad and your team has potential. I believe it.” Cheyenne reaches into her pocket and takes out a patch with a pink Flamingo on it. “Keep us in your hearts and in your battles...Emi.”

”Oh...thank you...this means so much to me.” Emi is visibly emotionally touched by their gesture. “I’ll make sure to fight for your sake and honor. Your defeat will not go down in vain.” Emi places the velcro patch on her plate carrier, next to her Armadillo patch. “I take it you two are from the United States. Zander’s squad seems all over the place from the looks of it but if you two ever stop by in the Texas area, contact me and I’ll be open to having lunch with you at Tomio’s place. He has a little Pizzeria in the area. I’ll be more than happy to offer you both a meal and some company. No expenses necessary

”We accept your offer, Emi.” Cheyenne and Bernadette both shake Emi’s hand. “We’re not in the state but if we ever stop by, we’ll let you know. We’d love to meet you in person.”

”Likewise. It’s not often I get to talk to a legend like you, Cheyenne.”

”Oh that’s just being too flattering.” Cheyenne laughs.

”I do mean it. It’s an honor to meet someone as famous as you on Mil-Sim story. Come on. I have to introduce you to the rest of the squad. Tomio and his squad are good people too. You and your sister will love them.” Emi waves at the twins to come over and join the rest of the group who are all chatting away, bantering and having a good time in this post-game party. It is within the spirit of the game, according to Emi, that good terms must be settled with your adversaries. Just as she did with Tomio, a guy who she left on bad terms years ago. Her eyes dart to Tomio who is chatting with the mercenaries and Zander. His eyes catch Emi looking at him which causes him to blush slightly and look away. Emi reacts the same way. She notices Zander elbowing him and making a joke. Seems like he knows what’s going on between the two and is trying to encourage him.

”Tomio is a good friend of yours, Emi?” Cheyenne asks when she notices Emi’s change of behavior.

”Oh….uh yeah. We’ve been friends since childhood actually.” Emi says nervously.

”Good friends are hard to come by. I think you get closer with him. He seems like your match.”

”M...My match?!” Emi stutters which causes the twins to laugh.

”Ah...I see our opponent really did have a weakness in the end. So sweet.” Bernadette comments.

”Let them take it slow Sis. They’ll figure it out when they are ready.” Cheyenne smiles warmly at Emi.

”Y...Yeah. I’ll...give it some thought.” Emi notes to the twins nervously. “Thanks for the advice I guess.”

Thanks for reading this far! The girls of Armadillo squad will continue to fight on the virtual battlefield and experience more adventures. The battle rages on in their heart but their spirit will stay strong no matter what. This is their Mil-Sim Story!