Chapter 6: Rank Up Test
The Border HQ Cafeteria. With a variety of options, and with easy access, it was one of the popular hangouts in the base. This was along with the lounge, the pool, the gym, and various other rooms that were there, but this one was more open and so more people of different squads came to eat and hang out in. The only other place where you would always see people from multiple squads interacting with each other was likely the solo rank wars booths.
Incidentally, they had staff that helped out there which included not only C-Ranks and general staff, but also part timers from outside were sometimes accepted.
"Ah, Yumi-neechan, fueling up for your rank up test today?" fourteen year old Shu asked as he helped cook the meals.
"Yeah. I can see you are cooking today, everything looks so delicious".
"Haha...thanks for the compliment. I learned from my parents after all. Anyways, its been a bit busier as of late I noticed, with all the new C-Ranks and Squads. I heard some kid younger then me already made B-Rank".
"Well, it cant be helped...in any case, work going well?" Yumi asked, a bit concerned.
But Shu just smiled, and gave a thumbs up.
"You know me, I don't let my spirit drop that easily...I mean, its not a loss one can ever truly get over. But, they wouldn't want us to stay sad right?"
Yumi smiled as she heard that.
Its not easy, being someone who became an orphan in that attack...having their whole life upended and changed.
"Ah, it looks like the Prince is coming" Shu noted, as the two turned and saw Oji coming forwards, getting some food for himself.
"You really do love nicknames as much as I do it seems" Oji commented back at him.
"Oh? Don't see you here much Oji...and wait, is that..."
Looking past Oji, and they saw Yotaro riding Raijinmaru come up, along with Reiji.
"I hear you plan to join A-Ranks today. Best of luck, but don't get too comfortable. Even if you pass, we will join you soon enough".
"You are just happy to have less competition in the other ranks".
"You have not won yet though" Reiji noted. "That said, it is strange for you to eat here, Oji-kun".
"Its because I heard Shu-kun here was the cook for today, so I had to get some myself".
"Indeed! Shu-boy is a very good cook! His food even makes Raijinmaru's tummy happy!"
Yotaro's proclamation was the loudest voice of them all, despite being the smallest and usually eating at Tamakoma.
"Ahahaha...I am happy to hear that" Shu mentioned, looking a bit shy as his cheeks blushed. He was notoriously weak to praise and compliments. "Either way, lets get you all served so we dont hold up anyone else".
Once that was all said and done, Oji went off to join a few others, while Yumi sat across from Reiji and Yotaro as the trio enjoyed their meals.
As they were eating though, Reiji gave her a report.
"You were curious weren't you? About your childhood friend?"
"How nice, and in a formal report no less. That is unusual, since you know we talk almost daily".
Reiji shrugged.
"Even if its not official, you have quite the high position in Border...and you might as well be in Tamakoma, although certainly being in the Shinoda faction does make sense for you as well".
"You know I am not that simple. I still have concerns about that boy, Tora...I assume that is the real reason for this report?"
Reiji nodded. Yumi found herself a bit annoyed by how simple his reactions were, but she didn't show it at all.
"You have a skillset that not many in Border have. And although we have let him in, there are some who want him investigated more to be safe, as well as this Colsaria. In addition, although certain assets have come into play, they want Colsaria's influence in spreading Triggers to be monitored and contained as well, especially given the ramifications of what could happen as a result".
Yumi sighed, as she ate some more of her food. Yotaro meanwhile was silently eating this whole time, very happy with the food.
"Its quite a bit to dump on me right before a Rank Up test, but whatever right. We are going to crush it either way".
"Of that, I have no doubts".
"Well, you better at least be here to cheer for us in the Rank Up Exam then".
"Naturally. You got anything special in mind?"
At Reiji's questions, Yumi just smiled innocently at him.
"Hell".
As Yumi got to the end of the report, she could not help but smile.
"Sounds like Dai-kun is doing well, Yumi-chan".
"Indeed. Guess its like you said, that kid is good after all. It will make your job a bit harder though, but I am sure you will manage".
Amalee and Aron Granger said that as they walked up next to her. All three of them were in their team uniforms, a purple windbreaker over a white T shirt, with purple pants. Their boots were green, and so was the hoods of their windbreakers. And on their shoulder was their team emblem.
"Hey guys! Sorry, I got sidetracked listening to the fight just now!"
And then their final member, Reiji Haruka, entered wearing the same thing. Meanwhile, their operator, a child named Haru Amagi came in. He looked like she could be both boy or girl, and had attractive and cute features. She was not wearing the typical operator outfit, but instead he was wearing her school's uniform even in his Trion body. "Sorry, someone deleted my previous appearance setting by accident it seems, so it just copied my school uniform. Anyways, I will be ready to assist as needed!"
This was their B-Rank team, Subaru Squad. Their leader was Yumi Subaru, who was the attacker. Then there was their Shooter, Amalee Granger who had a huge amount of Trion along with her twin brother Aron Grander, who was their sniper. And then there was their last sniper, the one who just entered, Reiji Haruka. Backed up by their Operator, Haru Amagi, who was the older sibling of Riku Amagi.
And as B-Rank Wars were so close to starting, before they started it was time for their match. Their match to rank up to A-Rank.
After their last Rank Battle, they had gotten up to the second top spot. This meant they could challenge an A-Rank Team, and if they won reach A-Rank. They had quite a few options, but ultimately they decided to go with Miwa Squad. As for the reason why, it was because the Squad was similar to themselves in a way. An attacker, a shooter (although in this case Miwa was an all rounder who used guns), and two snipers.
In other words, she thought it would be the best way to test if they were suitable for A-Rank. After all, Yumi wanted to truly make sure they were ready for it.
As the challenger, they could determine what map and conditions that would be set and prepared their equipment accordingly. They already knew what they were up against, and what they had to be ready for.
"You guys ready?"
"Yeah. Let's kick some ass".
"We will show them that we are A-Rank material for sure!"
"Locked and loaded".
"Good luck!"
Suddenly, a new voice called out in their room. They turned around, and saw two familiar faces. Yuki and Suzu, of Tsukiko Squad.
"We heard you were going for A-Rank and decided to come wish you luck, Yumi-chan!"
Suzu said that as she walked up to her, but Yumi had the feeling there was something more to this.
"Also, I heard this rumor from Jin-san…is it true that you are friends with that sniper boy from Tamakoma-3? The one with the cute Neighbor boy with the white hair and red eyes? The one aside from Yuma, although I heard from Sarah they are both "
"Cute? Errr…well, yes, I know all of them fairly well now actually…"
"Well I heard that he also has a great singing voice, and can even dance! And since it seems like he needs more positive memories anyways, I bet it would work out great!"
Everyone was a tad bit confused by this sudden whirlwind, but it wasn't the first time this had happened either. That said, casually hanging out was not something that most people were against.
"Yuki! Its official! We should take Tamakoma out for karaoke as well!"
"Well, it kind of matters if they wan…"
"it. Is. Happening. Or I will ship you with Ninomiya so strongly the entire world will believe it's true without a doubt".
"…yes".
As Yumi watched Yuki surrender to Suzu's threats, she could not help but produce a wry smile.
"Suzu".
"Yes?"
And then suddenly, that smile produced a terrifying aura that even Suzu could not help but shrink back a bit from. Everyone, including her own squad, was a bit surprised, because Yumi did not have that kind of character usually.
"Play nice with Tora-chan and the others. They are new and not quite ready to handle your full blown…energy, okay?"
"Y...yes, of course Yumi-chan! I wont do anything serious problematic! I promise!"
"Good".
"Wow, our captain can really get scary when she wants to".
"That is how she made it to get this far after all..."
Yuki and Suzu left their squad room with that, as Subaru Squad finished their preparations. If they beat Miwa Squad, they would be A-Rank. Now it was the time to shine, it was their time to get serious.
And that was why the conditions were set to Cityscape D, and as for the conditions...
"Still though, you sure you want to go with that setting? It is extremely unpopular, it usually messes up plans".
"That is why we are going with it. It will keep Miwa Squad on their toes. Furthermore, unlike B-Rank Wars for a Rank Up Exam, the A-Rank team does not know the settings involved. If everyone is quick enough, we might be able to score some hits early on".
Unlike B-Rank Wars, A-Rank was different. You had to completely defeat the other team, knock them all out of the match. Of course, since doing that might seem a bit difficult since A-Rankers tended to personalize a lot of their gear, such as Miwa's increased Lead Bullet and Yosuke's spear, that might seem a bit unfair. Therefore, the B-Rank team got to choose the map, the conditions, and the A-Rank team would not find out till they were inside the map.
And well, Yumi Subaru had done quite a bit of condition setting.
"Yumi, this certainly is quite evil. It is amazing how you get everyone to believe you are a perfect angel".
"What? I think this is only fair, given who we are up against. Alright people, lets get this party started!"
Haru just sighed. "All the apologies, Miwa Squad".
And so, Subaru Squad went and got into position.
The moment the transfer was done, Miwa Squad found themselves in a snow covered city. Since this was fundamentally different from a Rank Battle, the teams would always start together.
"This field is...Cityscape D is it?"
"It seems like they chose snow. Whatever, I don't know what they are planning but lets make sure they don't get the upper hand. You two, get to a higher position and keep watch for their snipers. Yoneya, with me. If they don't want to move around a lot, then lets go right to them".
"Fine with me".
Miwa and Yosuke rushed forward with the clear intention of getting to Subaru Squad and dealing with them quickly. They started to make good time And yet...
"Alert! Alert!"
That message suddenly played over the speakers.
"Multiple Gates Opening! Repeat, Multiple Gates Opening! All residents nearby please get to your safety shelters immediately!"
This forced Miwa and Yosuke to stop as indeed, multiple simulated gates appeared in front of them. In other words, not only did Yumi choose snow, but she chose a rather unpopular setting, Invasion. What it did was quite simple, it caused large amounts of Neighbors to spawn on the map.
And yet, seeing these gates reminded Miwa of the damn first Invasion when viewed like this and...
"Wow, Yumi-chan is taking this seriously" Yosuke muttered. Their two snipers had already equipped bagworm, and had taken the actions they agreed upon. In the meantime, Yoneya and Miwa watched as Trion Soldiers came onto the map.
And naturally, Miwa was unsettled by this scene before him.
They hit his weak spot rather well. After all, naturally a setting like this is undesirable for a lot of people, but especially for Miwa.
And given their higher trion levels overall, this would become a battle of endurance. Still...
"Kogetsu: Senku!"
Yosuke easily cut through a marmod, as he and Miwa took cover behind some buildings.
"Everyone, listen to me. I will be handling the operation now".
In that moment, the operator of Miwa Squad, Tsukimi Ren, spoke up, and everyone listened.
"Miwa-kun, please provide support for Yosuke. We have at least one target incoming, its likely Subaru-san. Its possible that Granger-san is with her as well and they are using grasshopper. The snipers will likely be in position soon. Narasaka-kun, prepare to counter snipe. Kodera, keep watch in a flanking position. I will mark a position to aim at. Yosuke, lure Subaru-san into that position. Kodera will take the shot as you launch an attack. An attack from a kogetsu and a sniper at once, she shouldn't be able to block, and we will take her out. However, at the same time, Miwa will fire lead bullets at her, or at whoever is there to assist her. And of course, be wary of the snipers".
"They have a similar setup to ourselves after all. Okay, got it".
Kodera nodded as well, as he got into a good spot overlooking the street. "Understood".
Narasaka was already scoping out other sniping positions. "Rodger that".
Miwa meanwhile had started to collect himself again. He was a trained agent, and used to invasions by now, but to suddenly have one sprung during Rank Wars was...well, he was not pleased. Especially since the area looked like the area he was in when the first invasion happened.
Did she know that too and plan for it? She is clearly going after this to throw me off...
Miwa did not plan to lose so easily.
Although it was not a Rank Wars match, there were plenty of others who were watching this match, and there was certainly a lot of different comments on it.
"Dai-nii" Tora said, watching the video. "Why are so many people confused by this?"
"Because during team battles, almost no one uses the Trion Soldier invasion setting. Its distracting, and it can hurt your own team as much as the enemies. It also just usually leaves a bad taste, but...Yumi must really want to win".
"Its especially nasty for Miwa, but their squad movements are still so sharp...their Operator must have taken over" Sarah muttered.
"Correct" Izumi Sugaku responded as he walked into the room and sat down on the couch. "Based on the movements of Miwa compared to the others, they are not moving around his movement and decisions, but his movements are synced with them. They are not the movements of a captain, but as a follower. And honestly...that is probably scarier then Miwa's leadership".
A few of them now looked at Izumi with a shocked look.
"Is she that good?"
At that point, Izumi flipped over his tablet, and revealed the Border files, including the stats of Miwa and his Operator. And a scary detail came into play.
Border had Miwa ranked as a six in command, but his Operator had a nine. Furthermore, she had an eight in tactics, while Miwa only had a five.
So by all accounts, disabling Miwa might have been a mistake.
"The operator running things is clearly a better choice for the squad. They should just make her captain" Izumi stated outright, causing a few wry looks about the bluntness of that statement.
"...still, was it really a mistake then?" Daisuke wondered.
Yumi knows I will take command, which means she has like anticipated my actions to some degree as well. She will be expecting an ambush...and she will have considered all of our plans.
Tsukimi Ren considered this as someone approached them. The battle was about to begin for sure. And yet...
That was when everything changed.
"The signal is gone! She just equipped Bagworm!"
Yosuke lurked behind a dark corner, having cut up more then enough Trion Soldiers in this area.
"I see...so then, the hunt begins then".
Kodera wanted to say something, but then he heard something move behind him. He immediately turned around, to see Yumi coming right at him.
Targeting the snipers first!
Kodera backed away to get some distance, but Yumi was so much faster. However, the fact she was in the building already was strange, since the Bagworm signal only just cut out.
In other words, it was a trick.
Wielding her two swords, she cut right at Kodera. Kodera shielded, and Yumi immediately hopped backwards, dodging as a spear was swung over her and nearly cut her head off.
But as she dodged, a sniper bullet came and shot off one of her arms as she swung it around, from across the way.
"As expected, you anticipated our plan A" Yosuke said as he went in for the attack. However, in that moment, he suddenly lost a leg, while Kodera just barely managed to escape as remote slashes came at him as well.
The blade that Yumi dropped had the new optional trigger, Fujin, which was based off of the Black Trigger.
And from the hand that was cut off, a scorpion blade appeared and parried the spear as her other Nikaze blade came for his head. Narasaka tried shooting again, to take her out or at least disrupt her movements, while Miwa appeared from behind with Kogetsu to corner her. Yumi as a result dodged and could not follow through with the attack, but tackled Yoneya out a window. As she tried to stab him with Scorpion, he shielded only to be shot in the head by two Egret shots. One of them was blocked by a focused shield, but the second one was not. Narasaka immediately entered counter snipe mode as he moved to a new spot, but took fire that nearly hit him from another location. He himself had a focused shield, having bluffed an attack to draw out the second sniper.
"Both sniper positions are now marked".
Yoneya bailed out right then and there, and Yumi was leaking trion and was on the street level again. Kodera and Narasaka both had to reposition, but so did Reiji Haruka and Aron Granger as Miwa was moving right towards them. Yumi tried to take a step forward to catch Miwa, except she suddenly tripped as she noticed lead bullet on her leg. This was followed by a sniper shot from Kodera, which gave her a fatal wound and resulted in her bailing out.
Kodera sighed with relief, only to suddenly get blasted in the back by an Asteroid round.
They had forgotten for a moment that the person that Bagwormed was not Yumi, but someone else.
"Yoneya was seriously impressive. If I didn't learn the double snipe from Satori-sempai, he would have survived".
"As expected of the No. 2 Sniper, he was able to lure out that shot even in the heat of battle".
Reiji and Aron respectively gave their remarks as they were repositioning.
"I managed to get Kodera back, so now its three versus two. Captain, your plan though was a bit too reckless" Amalee complained.
"Yeah, but its easier to predict a logic based person like Tsukimi then a hothead like Miwa" Subaru remarked, as she stood next to their operator Haru.
"Either way, we might have the numbers advantage, but the opponents are Miwa and Narasaka. Please be careful" Haru told them.
"Rodger".
"Understood, I am nearly at the next sniping position" Aron stated.
"No, not that one. Its too obvious, Narasaka likely has it marked and is aiming for it" Subaru warned. "Amalee, please move into this spot. Its got good overall coverage, and prepare a hornet. Reiji, you are probably going to get hunted by Miwa. Please avoid any sniping positions at all for now, get to someplace with more cover and concealment then shooting angles".
Miwa will go after the snipers, as will Narasaka. They wont take such bait. However, Tsukimi was adapting their strategies based on Subaru. And yet...this was exactly what she wanted.
"Haru, do it now".
"On it!"
Tsukimi watched when suddenly, a bagworm was disabled as a signature came up in the middle of the map.
"Do we have a visual on it?"
"Not yet, its fairly well hidden".
"Its a trap. It has to be a trap".
Subaru was good at playing mind games. Tsukimi considered everything. It was obviously a trap, but Subaru knew that she would think that. Which meant, it would not actually be a trap, but a fakeout.
"...its a trap after all".
And then, suddenly large amounts of hound bullets came flying out of the area. With a homing setting, they would home in on anyone and everyone that was not an ally.
But Miwa was already at the next location that was marked as a potential sniper spot, and so was Narasaka, so they were not close enough to actually be targeted. And so he turned the corner, and caught sight of someone in a Bagworm, but they disabled it immediately.
It was Amalee Granger, and not the sniper.
But how...dont tell me, delayed bullets?!
"So it was like that..." Tsukimi realized. "Now".
And from behind Miwa, a sniper shot came right at Amalee. But rather then shooter cubes appearing, it was a full guard.
"Got you".
And in that moment, as Narasaka was moving, he was shot at. However, the shot hit him in the leg and arm, not the areas he expected, causing him to collapse and stumble. Miwa went right for Amalee, but another shot came at him from behind, forcing him to block with two focused shields to hold back the Ibis, as Amalee formed Gimlet and attacked with a point blank strike.
And with Narasaka's injuries, two more Ibis shots came at him, and he was taken out as well.
And so, with the conclusion of the battle, Subaru Squad has successfully achieved their promotion to A-Rank. It was quite the feat, and it meant that they would no longer be participating in B-Rank Wars, but instead in A-Rank Wars.
Kido and Cody, who had also been watching, had some different reactions. Kido seemed calm and confident, while Cody seemed perplexed.
"...did she purposefully let herself get taken out earlier? She didn't pull any punches, but Yumi charging into such an obvious countertrap by Tsukimi was strange. Rather then Miwa being her target, wasn't it Yosuke who was her real target?"
"No" Kido shook his head. "Yosuke was her secondary target. The one who she believed was the greatest threat to them was their Operator. She wanted to burden and slow the operator as much as possible, which is why she deliberately set things up to where she would take command. Yosuke was then taken out because of his reach, and his proficiency. And Kodera was the easier target then Narasaka, so going after Narasaka might be better, but Tsukimi was likely expecting that and preparing to counter".
"I got most of that, but...it bothers me that she still did such a thing. If she had the sniper position marked, firing an Ibis shot through the wall to flush them out and then moving in with sniper support would have been better. Of course, there was Narasaka's sniping, but if you had the other sniper ready to countersnipe, then Narasaka would have been taken out as well".
"Perhaps...but, that was depending on what position Narasaka took".
"Yes, I suppose that is true...well, in the end, we got another A-Rank Squad, so its a good thing".
"I suppose, being old friends, our families should have a celebratory dinner at some point".
Although Kido said that, he actually had different thoughts on his mind.
Yumi Subaru is skilled, and aware of the full situation regarding those people. Perhaps, its time to make use of certain aspects make our move against this new threat. After all, we cant let them disrupt the plans to go on an away mission to Aftokrator now can we...
Kido was already thinking several steps into the future.