Disclaimer: There is no plan to integrate aspects of the Metal Gear franchise despite using the name FOXHOUND. Sorry to disappoint anybody who was hoping for such.
Ichika didn't have the slightest clue where in America he was right now. Heck, he didn't think he could name five states. Was Hawaii even a state?
Very soon after he had agreed to Angela's proposal, he had been hustled onto another helicopter. They had left around mid afternoon and by the time they had reached their destination it was morning again. As a result, Ichika felt queasy like when he'd walk for the first time after a long road trip.
Ichika took a peek inside the single duffle bag they had given him. Inside were several different pairs of military clothing, toiletries, and two pairs of boots. He idly wondered how they knew his sizes before shrugging. Military people just knew these kinds of things.
He zipped the duffle bag back up as the helicopter touched down to ground. He still didn't know where he was, probably on the Atlantic side of America?
Suddenly the door to the helicopter slid open, a woman with dark brown hair tied into a ponytail peeking inside.
"Grab your bag and get out Orimura."
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Ichika sounded off with gusto. Military people were like this right?
The woman grunted. "For now you will refer to me as instructor, am I clear?"
"Yes instructor!"
"Good, then follow me. You're the last recruit of this cycle to arrive," the instructor stated, marching away at a brisk pace that Ichika struggled to keep up with.
Ichika's mind wandered slightly as he practically ran to keep up with the instructor as she strode through the military base. Was it going to be like the movies? He'd seen on t.v where a ton of guys lined up in rows as scary looking adults screamed at them.
The instructor led Ichika into a building and opened the door to what Ichika could only describe as a pseudo classroom. Desks were arranged in the center of the room facing a whiteboard. It felt despairing empty, only containing the bare necessities to sufficiently teach a group of students.
He felt seven gazes immediately snap to him. Seven girls, mostly around his age, were seated in the desks and were keenly scrutinizing him with varying reactions.
"Instructor, why is there a boy here?" Pointing to Ichika like he was a convicted felon.
"This boy is capable of piloting an IS, thus he will be training alongside you," the instructor replied, stone faced.
"But instru-"
"Silence, there is no time for idle chatter. Take a seat Orimura," the instructor intoned, gesturing to an empty desk which Ichika quickly took before setting his duffle bag to the side.
Taking a position in front of the whiteboard, the instructor crossed her arms. "As of now you are fresh recruits training to be FOXHOUND operators. You will be trained on how to destroy the enemy physically, mentally, and emotionally whilst piloting an IS. Further, you will be taught several disciplines that are standard to tier one operators."
The instructor received a round of serious nods from the girls and Ichika.
"However, the IS is first and foremost a weapon and weapons are wielded by warriors. Therefore you will first be instructed how to be a warrior before you are instructed how to be a pilot," she continued.
After a brief silence, the instructor continued her speech. "The organization that you will be training for is a highly secretive one. FOXHOUND gets dirty so that Uncle Sam stays clean, that's the mission and our solemn duty. You will now and forever be expected to abide by this creed. Do not break this expectation, am I understood?"
Ichika nervously gulped as he nodded resolutely alongside the seven other girls. To hold such a massive secret, and he thought middle school would be tough.
"Very good, training starts tomorrow morning. Today you will be given a tour of the base and all its facilities. You will also receive a handbook which will dictate how you eat, sleep, and how you will conduct yourself while I am the instructor. Am I understood?"
"Yes instructor!" Eight voices sounded off in tandem.
First Day of Training
Ichika tore into the meal he was provided like a rabid animal. It felt like there was a bottomless hole where his stomach should be after all the calories he'd burnt in the morning. However he suddenly remembered what it said in his assigned booklet about eating in a 'swift and efficient manner'.
He was certainly swift, but he supposed efficiency was thrown out the window when he was piling in more than he could chew at any given point. Taking a nervous glance around, he began to eat at a more sedate pace. He'd seen some of his fellow trainees punished for much less that morning.
Taking a seat across from him however was a blonde girl who didn't hold herself to the same standard, shovelling food in her mouth similar to how he was just doing. Some even fell onto the clean floor as she heaped more and more food into the bottomless pit of her stomach.
The boy couldn't blame the girl though. His sister had always encouraged him to go outside and get some proper exercise, but he was sure he'd never worked that hard in his life. He did scrape by though with some determination and perhaps a healthy dose of fear.
The morning had started with a bang, literally. Unfortunately for the poor boy, all of them shared a room with 4 pairs of bunk beds crammed inside. Was it four in the morning? Maybe it was three? Ichika couldn't remember, but he did remember that the instructor had tossed what looked like a grenade into the room. Instead of blowing up however, it produced an obscene amount of noise, making Ichika slam his head into the bunk above him in panic.
Then it was running, more running, and more running. What greeted the trainees after the seemingly endless run was an obstacle course. Those who did not pass did not get breakfast. For Ichika, that was plenty of motivation.
After the absurdly short breakfast, things went from terrible to soul crushing. More obstacles, more running, and the introduction of underwater survival training. This was the first day and he was pretty sure his lifespan had already decreased.
But what cemented this as maybe the hardest day in his life was the cold. Mornings were cold here and unfortunately for them, mother nature had deemed today to be suitable for chilly winds. Some fared better than others when it came to enduring the elements.
Ichika was unfortunately one of the 'others' as he had never experienced this kind of cold in his cushy life of artificial temperature.
Indeed, Ichika could fully understand why the girl across from him looked more like a cavewoman eating for the first time in days. She was short, a whole head shorter than him. He remembered she always seemed to lag behind on the runs and worse, failed to complete the obstacle course due to not being able to jump over certain obstacles. This was the first meal of the day for the girl.
However, that empathy very quickly turned to worry for the girl as he felt the instructor's hawkish gaze glued itself on the table the two were occupying. As expected, the instructor stalked up behind the girl opposite Ichika while giving him a withering glare. He understood the silent message to keep his mouth shut.
The instructor placed a menacing hand on the girl's shoulder, making her jump and look over her shoulder with wide eyes. "You've got some nerve Wyler, spilling your slop all over my chow hall. It seemed taking away your breakfast hasn't instilled enough discipline in you. I suppose I have to take away your lunch as well. A shame, you're going to need the calories later."
With a cruel hand, the instructor snatched the girl's food tray from the table and promptly dumped it in a nearby trash bin.
"As further punishment, you and Orimura are going to be cleaning my chow hall after dinner. It will be spotless or you will very much be dead. Take this as a lesson I suppose, your mess ups affect everybody around you."
Ichika's eyes widened in dismay, had he heard the instructor right? He opened his mouth to protest but a sideways glare from the woman made him regret opening his unworthy mouth to begin with. "Y-Yes instructor."
"As for you Orimura, I'd suggest you finish your meal quickly," the instructor said, checking her watch. "There's only five minutes left until I'll have you lot running laps again."
With that, the instructor stalked off, probably to scrutinize the other recruits. Ichika allowed a sigh of exhaustion between bites. She was like his old P.E teacher but one hundred times worse.
"Uh… sorry about that Orimura," the girl said with a nervous smile of guilt. With no food to gluttonize, she just awkwardly sat in place and twiddled her thumbs.
Ichika didn't bother replying as his mouth was stuffed with food. However he did extend his pity in the form of a peanut butter sandwich under the table. He put a finger to his lips in the universal gesture of silence and the girl nodded furiously.
The rest of lunch was spent with Ichika eating frantically while doing his best not to spill anything and his tablemate eating the sandwich in secretive bites while the instructor had her back turned to the two.
Ichika had lost feeling in his arms a few hours ago. He was like a robot as he stiffly mopped the floor with the blonde girl who had received the most scrutiny from the instructor that day out of the eight trainees.
After dinner, the two had obediently reported to the instructor who had only given them cleaning supplies and a stern "don't expect breakfast if there's even a spot of grime left."
Ichika honestly wanted to cry a little. But none of the girls had cried, so there was no way he would, he was the guy after all.
Sighing as he wet his mop again, Ichika noticed the girl was looking at him.
"Err- sorry again for roping you into this Orimura, my first name is Monika by the way. Wyler is my last name… but I guess you already knew that. If you want, you can call me Monika, but Wyler works too though."
Ichika swallowed, talking to girls wasn't really his forte. Though, he supposed he'd have to get used to it. "I-It's fine…Monika. My first name is Ichika, but you can call me whatever."
Monika nodded at this, her expression slightly brightening. "Sure Ichika. Did I pronounce it correctly?"
Ichika nodded in return. He blinked however, was it a coincidence or…?
"Your last name is Wyler right? Do you know someone named Angela? Sorry, it might be weird to ask, but a woman with the same last name is the one who brought me to FOXHOUND."
"You know my sister?" Monika remarked with surprise. "I guess you are a guy, a guy who can pilot an IS. I suppose it's a given that she would know all about you."
Ichika nodded. "Yeah, she kind of rescued me from a terrorist group and brought me to America."
Monika snorted. "That's some backstory as to why you joined."
"And what about you, did you want to follow in your sister's footsteps."
"Yeah, my sister's the strongest. She's always fighting for America and killing the bad guys. Big sis is like a role model, this was just the natural next step for me," Monika replied, a smile finding itself on her face.
"I have a big sister too, she's kind of the best. Though, she can't cook very well and she's not very good with house chores. But she's the best IS pilot in the world I think, she's super strong. We used to live together in Japan until… well until Phantom Task or whoever kidnapped me and Angela rescued me," Ichika said, homesickness welling up in his chest.
"Your sister sounds pretty cool, but mine is probably better. I bet my sister could beat yours up," Monika remarked matter of factly.
Ichika found enough energy within himself to scoff playfully. "No way, my sister is way better. She won the first Mondo Grosso and probably is way more stronger than Ms. Angela."
"You're just saying that because she's your sister. Mine is objectively better than yours," Monika retorted.
Ichika shook his head as he wet his mop again. However he was unable to keep down the small smile that snuck on his face. Maybe getting used to talking to girls wouldn't be so hard after all.
The two continued to chat and bicker through the night, mopping the chow hall's floors again and again, failing to realize that it was already spotless.
Twelfth Day of Training
Ichika's head rocked back as he was kicked in the face. Razor wire tickled the top of his head and the mud beneath him somehow kept getting in his mouth. The worst part however was the girl crawling through the mud directly ahead of him.
"Whoops, sorry about that Ichika," Monika said sheepishly, looking back apologetically.
"S-fine," Ichika grumbled, wiping his now bloody nose with his sleeve. His nose stung and tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Every inch of his body told him that he should sit up a bit, take a break, relax some. His rational brain craving survival beat these instincts down however. Rounds were being fired over their heads by the instructor who had conspicuously failed to confirm if they were live rounds or not.
He wasn't all that bothered by the blood that ran down his face. The coppery taste of his gross nose blood was somehow a welcome change to the taste of cold mud. He took the tiny pleasures he could in this horrible place.
He wondered what Chifuyu-nee was doing-
His head rocked back once again as Monika's boot slammed into his face. This time his jaw took the blow. "Monika, please. Can you PLEASE stop kicking me. It actually hurts you know."
"Sorry Ichika, but I'm really not trying to. Can't you not crawl so close behind me?"
Ichika sighed, trying his best to push his irritation down. "I can't, York's right behind me. But do you know something interesting? I'm not shoving my boot in York's face every five seconds!"
The girl behind Ichika, York, growled. "I can't slow down either, Finley is right on my tail too."
"Great, we're a human centipede," Monika groaned.
"You know, we might be able to space out if you could just move faster Wyler," York complained.
"Yeah, you gotta pick it up Wyler! Shaefer is literally smelling my butt right now," Finley, the girl behind York, called out.
Monika gave an offended scoff while Ichika snorted at the absurdity of it all. His previous lifestyle now felt very far away.
"Why the hell do I hear so much chatting down there, keep crawling like the worms you are. Any more senseless chattering and I'll get out the hose," the instructor commanded, reloading the machine gun she was using to fire rounds above their heads.
"Yes instructor," the recruits replied fearfully, resuming their slow trek through the cold mud like the worms they were.
Twenty Fifth Day of Training
Ichika gasped for air as his head finally broke the surface of the water. The ocean's relentless waves had violently pulled himself along with his other three boat crew members out of their small four man raft. Despite the life vest secured tightly to his chest, the Atlantic's ceaseless waves kept pounding down on him. Drowning was very much a real and scary possibility.
Monika suddenly surfaced beside him, violently coughing up water. Soon, Finley and a girl named Kane also surfaced in similar conditions. Ichika grabbed on to Monika's life vest and began thrashing his way towards the others so they wouldn't be separated.
The eight trainees were split into two different boat teams based on their height. The four consisting of himself, Monika, Finley, and Kane made up the shorter trainees while York, Summers, West, and Schaefer were the taller ones.
The instructor stood on the shoreline watching both boat teams get battered over and over. She held a pendant in her hand tightly. If a trainee was at serious risk of drowning, she would be ready to activate her personal IS.
Her owlish gaze stayed glued to the boat crews even as she felt someone approach from behind her.
"Afternoon Chiron, how's the new batch shaping up? Can't remember the last time we had this many trainees in one rotation."
"They're meeting my expectation for now," the instructor intoned. "Why have you come Skunk, you're usually cooped up in your lab when you're off mission."
"Straight to the point as always. Watchdog told me to check on the little man, see how his training's going. He was a civilian before all this you know."
The instructor nodded her head. "I know, I read his file. You can tell Watchdog that he's meeting the standards and perhaps exceeding them in some points."
Skunk raised an eyebrow. "High praise coming from the instructor herself."
"He looks out for the other trainees… he's a good kid."
"We'll see for how long, you know more than anyone how the organization changes people," Skunk said with a sigh.
The instructor shook her head. "No, I know his type. It's in their nature to prioritize others over themselves. That won't change but I do hope he doesn't break psychologically. It's the regular forces job to win hearts and minds, our job is solely to take everything from the enemy until there is nothing left."
Skunk mulled over the tidbit of information before shrugging. "And how's the mini Angela?"
"If you're referring to Watchdog's sister then she's adequate so far. If that is all, go report to Watchdog. My trainee's are still in the middle of an exercise."
"Always so brusque Chiron. I swear, I think I can count the number of times you've smiled on one hand. But anyways, I did have some guys drop off the gas you wanted in your storage complex. You should know that I made them extra potent since the bimbo's sister is in this cycle," Skunk chuckled cruelly.
With the last word, Skunk activated her IS, a sleek black model with four cannons mounted on its back meant for launching gas. She blasted off into the air and headed towards one of her isolated laboratories. She still had a couple of projects to work on.
The instructor sighed, refocusing her entire attention on her trainees. Emily Kӧnig was a eccentric one. When the two were trainees they were actually in the same cycle. The instructor had witnessed first hand how the organization had not only accepted but rewarded her comrade's eccentricities, especially her more sadistic ones.
Thirty First Day of Training
"Why in god's name are you so heavy York?" Monika groaned. The girl was trudging up a steep incline with York slung atop her shoulders in a standard fireman's carry.
"Huh!? It's not that I'm heavy Wyler, it's your stubby little legs," york bit back from atop Monika's shoulders.
"No, you're seriously fucking heavy York. I've been paired with everybody and even Ichika feels lighter than you."
York narrowed her eyes. "You know Wyler, my knee is awfully close to your face. Accidents may happen if you jostle me around too much."
"Try it and see what happens you idiot sasquatch. I'm not scared to dump you on the ground and have us both get punished," Monika retorted.
"What'd you just call me?" York hissed, beginning to squirm around, making Monika lose her balance.
Ichika sighed tiredly from a few meters behind the pair of bickering girls.
"What a surprise, they're going at it again," Kane muttered sarcastically from on top of Ichika's shoulders in a similar fireman's carry.
"I just hope Monika doesn't challenge York to another arm wrestling contest, she's going to embarrass herself again," Ichika muttered in reply so that only his partner atop his shoulders could hear him.
Kane tried and failed to suppress a giggle in response. "Yeah, Wyler was literally thrown out of her chair with how hard she lost. I don't think I'll ever forget her face at that moment."
Ichika however grimaced at the memory. It had taken a lot of time and patience to console his friend's ego that night. "I honestly don't know what Monika was thinking. York told me she was thirteen or something and I'm pretty sure Monika is younger than me. Oh, I'm eleven by the way."
"Eleven, guess we're the same age huh," Kane grunted. "By the way, Finley, Schaefer, and I were talking last night about how you should get Monika to stop fighting with York. Every time they fight the instructor gets mad and you know how that goes."
"Wait a minute, why is it me who has to do it? Shouldn't it be a girls talk or something?" Ichika remarked.
"Are you kidding, who else would actually get through to her? Everyone knows that you and Wyler are all buddy buddy, you even call each other by your first names."
"You know, you can call me Ichika if you want," Ichika remarked.
"Wha-psh, as if Orimura. Wyler would probably think I'm trying to steal you away from her or something," Kane chuckled, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.
"Ok, ok. I'll see what I can do about Monika. Don't get your hopes up though, she's super stubborn even when I talk to her."
"You better. Trust me, it would make all of our lives easier if those two just stopped fighting," Kane sighed.
"..."
"..."
"For the record, I don't think you're heavy."
Kane giggled. "You're a good guy Ichika."
Thirty Eighth Day of Training
"Your weapon is clear at this time Orimura, you may step back," the instructor announced, scribbling a few things on her clipboard.
Ichika gulped, was the scribbling good or bad? "Y-Yes instructor."
On the rare days the eight trainees weren't swamped with constant exercises, they were partaking in more technical training. It would usually start in the classroom where they would all frantically try and put everything the instructor said on paper. Then they would endlessly apply whatever they learned in a practical setting.
Land and underwater navigation, dive physics, and in this case, they were practicing with an assortment of firearms. Some were pretty extreme in Ichika's opinion. He was surprised his shoulder hadn't been blown out by some of the bigger gun's recoil.
Ichika was a pretty good shot, the instructor had even said so once. However, out of all the recruits, nobody could match Monika, a fact that she often flaunted, mainly to York. When it came to putting lead on target, nobody could even come close to the sheer speed, accuracy, and efficiency that Monika boasted.
Even the instructor begrudgingly commended Monika's marksmanship before promptly yelling at the girl about proper gun safety protocol.
"You see how I did Ichika?" Monika beamed, practically skipping to the boy's side. "If those were people, their heads would have been blown clean off in an instant."
Ichika gave a restrained chuckle. "Yeah, you did really good Monika."
Monika beamed in response. "My sister taught me how to shoot when I was younger so it's pretty much a given I'd be the best at it. I can't wait until we get to shoot living targets."
Ichika nodded nervously. Of Course he knew it was coming. He gulped, an uncertain feeling coming over him. Would he freeze up when it actually happened? It was a scary feeling.
He shook his head vigorously to clear the thoughts. The instructor said it was a good thing to accomplish any given mission he had. She said that it was best to fight without any personal feelings or attachment to the enemy in order to make the most clear headed decisions in the midst of battle.
Not to mention his friends didn't seem all that bothered by the prospect of killing. If they didn't, he shouldn't. Indeed, he should be brave, or atleast put on a brave face. That's what his sister would have wanted. Chifuyu-nee? It'd been a while since he'd thought about her. There just hadn't really been the time to.
"Are you ok Orimura?" Kane asked, nudging his shoulder with a concerned look.
"Wha-? Oh yeah."
"You've been looking off into space for a while, the instructor said to go to the chow hall for lunch."
"Sorry, I was just thinking about some stuff," Ichika replied, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"No time for that, you know how strict the instructor is, even during lunch," Kane chided.
"I know. Let's go, I'm starving," Ichika relented.
The two set off for the chow hall. Ichika pushed all his uncertainties to the back of his mind. He hoped the instructor gave them another lesson on not only how but why destroying the enemy was a good thing. He needed it.
Sixty Fourth Day of Training
Ichika grunted as he stubbed his foot on a protruding tree root. The rucksack on his back felt more like a boulder, how long had they been in this giant forest?
The instructor had flown the eight out into the middle of a mountain range rich with dense pine trees that were terribly hard to navigate through.
To his right, as expected, was Monika who was hunched over with a deep grimace, the rucksack on her shoulders crushing the poor girl. To his left was Kane and a girl Ichika didn't know too well. Westmyer was her name, everyone just called her West though, Westmyer just wasn't as cool.
Kane was staring at a map with a triangle protractor. She occasionally rotated the protractor in hopes the map would start making sense.
West for her part was switching her gaze from Kane's map to a small compass she held in her hand.
"Umm, if we just passed that ridge, and we're heading east… we should be about here," West stated, pointing at a general area on the map.
"Are you sure? If we're there, shouldn't that mountain's peak be facing towards us?" Kane questioned, pointing at an adjacent mountain that looked slightly like a thumb.
West looked at the mountain, then to her compass, then back to the map. "Uh, I have no clue."
Ichika wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. West and Kane were looking back and forth from their surrounding and the map. It looked like neither had a clue where they were going. He looked to his right just in time to see Monika faceplant. Guess the weight was finally too much for her.
Man, he just wanted to get out of these woods and eat whatever they were having for dinner. The other girls seemed to hate the food, always complaining about how terrible it was. Ichika didn't mind it though, it tasted about as good as Chifuyu-nee's cooking. What he could remember of it at least.