"A jab from the left, followed by a leg sweep into a tackle. Dodge the jab, step into his space, and counter with a grapple." his instincts guided his movements.
As he foresaw, a jab came to his left, which he easily dodged, then instead of creating distance, he stepped into point-blank range and countered his opponents dip into a leg sweep with a grapple. He latched onto the exposed arm and then heaved his opponent over his shoulders. His opponent slammed into the mat back first, driving the air from his lungs and Izuku tackled him. He pinned him to the mat, and with one arm on his opponent's neck, he forced his opponent to concede.
He released his hold and helped his opponent to his feet. Then after taking a few steps back, they bowed to each other. Both of them ached all over, and Izuku knew he was going to have a bruise on his arm later from when his opponent struck him with a roundhouse kick.
Izuku made his way to a nearby bench and chugged the water he had put there earlier.
"Do you ever stop training?" came a voice from beside him.
Izuku looked over and saw that Ahmya had just come into the dojo, dressed and ready to train herself. Izuku just shrugged and rubbed his sore arm.
"You've beaten almost every instructor here in hand-to-hand combat, and certainly no trainee is able to keep up with you anymore." She said frowning.
"You need to relax some, you're just going to run yourself into the ground at this rate. I'm surprised it hasn't happened already, you spend almost every waking moment here training, at the field with your squad training, or in your room reading and taking notes. Do you have anything you do for fun? Any sort of hobby?" She asked, genuinely concerned that Izuku was either going to have a heart attack or a stroke from the strain he was putting his body under.
Izuku couldn't meet her gaze so he went back to drinking before answering. "I study heroes, quirks, and support technology as my hobby I guess," he mumbled out.
Ahmya just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation before glaring at him. "You need to stop this, your superiors have already spoken with me and we all agree that this isn't healthy. So, I came here to train, and to give you this," she said handing him a sheet of paper.
Izuku took it, and read it over, his face going rigid at the contents.
"I've been barred from the dojo and the field? Along with orders to go lights out by ten?" he said, surprised.
"Everyone is concerned, me, my squad, your squad, and your superiors. While you are a model soldier, and your work ethic is commendable, you're also tearing yourself apart little by little. So you are being officially ordered R&R." she said, smiling to help lessen the sting of her words.
Anger flared inside him, and he fought to control himself. It was difficult, but eventually, he got himself under control and his rational mind kicked into gear. Now that she had said it, and he had been ordered to stop training, he partially realized what he must look like to everyone else. He took stock of his current situation quickly, and he had to grudgingly agree with Ahmya's and his superior's assessment of the situation. He knew, rather than felt, that the exhaustion he had been ignoring had settled deep into his bones. The more he thought of it, the more he imagined the bone-deep tiredness seeping into his body.
He left the dojo and made his way to his room. By the time he got to his room and had removed his shoes, he could feel himself shaking. He practically crawled into his bed, and he passed out shortly thereafter.
Barely a week after he had been ordered to relax, the world had to go and flip on itself. In only three days, Japan seemed poised on the edge of a civil disaster. If the skyrocketing villain rates weren't bad enough, then vigilante gangs had started cropping up all over. Gang wars had gripped several cities and the dangerous ideas and teaching of Destro had started taking hold all over the country at an alarming rate.
Now the breaking point had finally been reached. Deika City had defected from the government and had become headquarters for the newly revived Meta Liberation Army. They had declared war against the Japanese government and already small insurgent groups under their leadership had struck at key government personnel and the Hero Association across the country. Not to mention the fact that the Detnerat Company had declared open support of the terrorist group and had provided them with secretly developed weapons.
Things could no longer be contained by the Hero Association. So it now fell to the QSU, Heroes, and the military to combat this terrorist group. Izuku, Ahmya, and several other squad leaders of various levels of experience had been recalled to the Mufustafu QSU Academy and had just been briefed on the plan to cut off the head of the group.
A massive force of heroes, military personnel, and QSU operatives were going to assault the city directly. The military would start the assault with a bombardment of the perimeter of the city, then several squads consisting of military and hero personnel would assault the city from several different directions, with the QSU and the rest of the heroes either airdropping directly into the city or being flown in on helicopters. Izuku and Ahmya may still be in training, but the situation was dire enough to call for their use. They would be flown in on helicopters along with several other groups and would touchdown on top of Deika hospital. They would secure the building as a base of operations and would hold the location against any and all enemy forces. Resistance was expected to be minimal, as it was likely not everyone in the city was an MLA operative, making the hospital the likely safest place to assault.
It was good he had been forced to relax, or he might have passed out entirely from the completely new level of stress that he found himself under. He was sitting on the floor of his room, back to his bed and shaking all over.
Actual, live, combat. He hadn't expected everything to self-destruct so rapidly, hadn't thought he'd be forced to take part in an actual skirmish against a domestic terrorist group. Fear gripped him every side, the fear of death, the fear of the death of his friends and squad, fear of what might happen if the attack failed. It felt like the entire world was collapsing around his very head and like he might be crushed under its deluge. So distracted was he, that he didn't even notice his door opening. He didn't react until feet appeared in his vision before him.
He looked up and saw Ahmya kneeling down in front of him so that their eyes were level with each other. When he looked at her though, he could only see what he imagined her corpse might look like. The room was starting to spin, his breaths came in rapid gasps, he tried to put out a hand to steady himself but couldn't feel anything.
Then the world exploded into a burning, stinging pain. He blinked, he was staring at the ceiling of his room with Ahmya looking at him worriedly.
"Better?" she asked.
He put a hand to his cheek where she had just slapped him with all her strength.
"Y-Yeah..." he mumbled out. The sheer unexpectedness and pain brought him back to reality.
He saw her own worry and panic start to recede at his words.
"Sorry, I just didn't know what else to do," she said running a hand through her hair in agitation.
"It's fine," he mumbled sitting up.
"I came to see how you were holding up after the briefing. You looked pretty terrible afterward. Glad I did, but not that I had to slap you. I thought you could use the company." she said, sitting down next to him, putting her own back to his bed.
"Sorry, it just all happened so fast. It feels like the world is ending and that I'm going to die soon," he said looking down at his feet.
"Hey. Hey, look at me," Ahmya commanded, her tone reminiscent of Gunso Arinobu's.
He looked up at her and she gripped the sides of his head firmly and stared straight into his eyes.
"I know it's crazy right now, and it's just going to get crazier. BUT, we are going to do the job we've spent the last eleven months training for. We're going to go out there, capture that hospital and hold it without fail." she said, her voice getting louder.
"You are NOT going to die. I am not going to die. We are going to be fine, cause we are the two best rookies here, and if we can best some of our teachers, then we beat some chumps hyped up on their own glory no problem. GOT IT!?" she was yelling by the end.
Izuku blinked once before a smile broke out across his face. "Yeah, I got it," he said and he knew he meant it.
Ahmya was right, he was overthinking this. These wouldn't be soldiers, just a bunch of wackjobs hyped up on their own self-worth. When they saw what they were up against they would probably just surrender. It was going to be fine.
At his response, Ahmya's glare softened and she pulled him into a tight hug. They held the hug for a while, before eventually breaking apart. Both of them looked a bit red and Ahmya got up from the floor.
"Well, if you're done being moody, what do you say to getting some dinner?" she asked with false cheer.
Despite it being clear that she was forcing herself to smile, Izuku couldn't help but smile back. The world seemed to get just a bit brighter, and he nodded. As they walked to the mess hall, he realized that Ahmya's little speech had been as much for her own benefit as it had been for his.
The clouds were getting dark in the sky when it came time to load up on the helicopters. They'd spent several hours in the back of a troop transport inbound to the rendezvous point, and now they only had another forty-five minutes to go in the chopper until they hit the strike point.
As they got ready to board, Izuku did one last gear check of his squad. They all wore their special anti-quirk combat gear. Their full-body armor suits were designed to resist impacts and elemental assaults. Layered on top they had tactical vests packed with various types of equipment all tailored to each member's role in the squad. Their helmets were fully encompassing and had a layer of malleable lead inside to help inhibit mental quirk assaults. The helmets were a set of interlocking pieces that connected and "fused" together to form a seemingly singular matte black headpiece with a visor going across the eye region that looked more like glass. The eyepieces were specially designed for members of the QSU and Spec Ops units, auto glare dampening to help improve fighting in bright conditions, or against individuals with particularly bright quirks, and could also double as night vision goggles when needed and were made of special anti-ballistic material. Their radio equipment was built into the helmet itself and was EMP shielded. It was quite hot to wear, which was why they passed on wearing the helmets and vests until now. All the QSU squads present were indistinguishable in their black armor, except for patches that identified their prefecture and squad number within the said prefecture. All-in-all they looked pretty intimidating, which when fighting villains was half the battle. Their chosen weapons hung at their sides via slings, Izuku's own MRAD M33, hung at his side with his Glock 44 in its holster.
He surveyed his squad and was satisfied that they were as ready as they could be. Not wanting to be left to his own devices he started checking his own gear. Before long though, he got the notice to board his assigned KV-107 II. His and Ahmya's squads boarded and after they all got settled they just had to wait. Fortunately, they were one of the last groups told to board, and before long the bay doors closed, with the only light coming from the windows. The clouds had darkened further and Izuku noticed some light misty rain rolling in. Then he heard the unmistakable whine of several choppers spinning up to max speed from standby. A minute or two later, and they were heading towards Deika City.
A half-hour later, the city was in viewing range. The choppers angled so that they started to circle around it from a distance so that when it came time to head in they would be as close to the hospital as possible. Then over his radio, a clear voice cut through the chatter from his and Ahmyas squads.
"Airstrike on Deika City, in five. Ground units, cut the chatter and make sure you're mounted up and loaded. Air Units, you're descending in ten, make sure you're locked and loaded." Came the voice of Rikugun-Chūjō Musashi, the one commanding the entire attack.
All chatter ceased and everyone turned their attention to the city. The tension in the chopper was palpable, minutes ticked by until they saw several Mitsubishi F-2's coming in. The jets rocketed by them at a fair distance, and they watched with bated breath as they closed in on the city. The jets dipped towards the ground and then pulled up, turning away and angling back for another pass at another point. Meanwhile, their payload hit its mark. The pillars of fire and destruction blew apart several buildings and lit up the terrain for miles around. The jets repeated this staffing run another four times at different locations before turning away entirely.
They weren't able to see anymore after that, and they settled back down in their seats. The display of power had bolstered their morale and determination, and if they weren't before then they were ready for anything now. The rain started to come down hard, but the wind was negligible and so the choppers turned towards their designated targets. Izuku's chopper and another split from the main group and angled towards the helipad on top of the hospital. As they split off though, a tremendous arc of sheet lighting coursed across the clouds, then before anyone could comment on it, a massive bolt of lightning flashed out from the clouds and hit a chopper, then it jumped from the first to two more. The choppers exploded into giant balls of fire and the pieces hurtled towards the city, smashing through buildings before impacting the ground.
"WE ARE MAKING AN EMERGENCY DESCENT, EVERY MAKE SURE YOU ARE STRAPPED IN." screamed out the pilot's voice, before the chopper took a sudden dive. The pilots quick thinking saved all their lives, as a moment later, Izuku saw a massive spike of ice hurtle into the space where they had been previously.
He clung to his seat for dear life as the chopper screamed towards the hospital, the cargo doors opening as they got close. They avoided another spike of ice, and then they landed on the helipad.
"TOUCHDOWN, HIT IT!" Came the pilot's voice once more. Izuku hit the release on his straps and a second later, his and Ahmya's teams charged out of the chopper along with the squads from one other chopper. One was missing.
A total of 40 QSU operatives unloaded, with 20 infantry to support them as they cleared each floor. A second, later they were charging at the door leading to the hospital proper. The two other more experienced squads breached the entry and stormed the staircase, with Izuku and Ahmya following behind them. When they got to the topmost floor, their team split. Ahmya went with one of the experienced squads, while Izuku went with the other to the next floor down. They would every other floor on their way down, securing each floor as they did with infantry taking charge of civilians encountered and secured.
The squad in front of Izuku hit the next floor down and after checking the hallway they poured out of the stairwell. They hit each room, checking for civilians or injured. Izuku's team was securing a set of three rooms when two of the doors burst open and several men with crazed looks in their eyes threw themselves at his squad.
A man with scythes sprouting from his body rushed Izuku. He evaded the attacks as best he could, but it became clear he couldn't dodge forever. The panic he had been able to suppress since the helicopters exploded surged into him, and he unconsciously jumped backward, then in one smooth motion, brought his rifle to bear. He squeezed the trigger and the bullets tore into the man. Blood exploded from the gunshot wounds and spattered across the ground, the man gave a single chocked cry and collapsed onto the floor. The man spasmed on the floor, froth coming from his mouth, mixed with blood, before finally becoming still. Izuku looked around him in a panicked daze and saw a wolfman trying to bite one of his squadmates. Without really thinking about it, still dazed, he brought his rifle up and gunned the wolfman down. The wolfman died instantly, blood seeping from his wounds onto the floor.
His memory started to blur together after that. He recalled meeting up with the other squad and them trying to help calm himself and his squad down. At the very least, they got them to start moving, and the rest of the next half hour was a blur of sweeping floors, securing rooms, and occasionally killing more villains on some kind of drug called Trigger. They were no civilians, even the sickly tried fighting them tooth and nail, and they had been forced to kill them too. Izuku just couldn't comprehend anything happening around him, and when they finally met back up with Ahmya, he knew her squad was just the same as his. A small bit of blood spattered their armor and the older squads gave them their orders.
The hospital was locked down and communications equipment had been set up on one of the higher floors. Their next orders were to hold the hospital and to prep it for use to treat injured personnel. Izuku's last clear memory before falling asleep was looking out of a window, and seeing still as of yet, distant lights and flashes of heroes fighting villains, and the unmistakable sound of gunfire.
