Part 2 – New Job – part 2

"Captain," Naofumi asked.

"Rock Valley is a small town mixed with a very tiny downtown area," Elrasla said as she walked back around to sit behind her desk, "Right now, with the establishment of the Melromarc Military Academy, the town is undergoing an influx of people and a rise in violent crimes. I figure with your background, you could easily restore some order in the town."

"So you're sending me to be the Sheriff of a college town," Naofumi asked.

"In essence," Elrasla said, "But you know what I mean. Right now the town police need a tactical team. If you're not the man to lead that team, I don't know who is."

"I will need to move my things out of my apartment," Naofumi said.

"Already happening," Elrasla said, "We've found an apartment for you in the downtown area of Rock Valley, and have arranged for you to meet the Mayor and Chief of Police for dinner tonight. Your uniform is waiting at the station, and they'll be a press conference tomorrow morning."

"My car," Naofumi asked.

"Downstairs, right where you left it," Elrasla said, "I think however, you might want to take one of our cars there. Rock Valley is four hours away."

"Which means I'm going to get there by dinner time," Naofumi said, "Which means you have a suit for me, right?"

"Yes," Elrasla said, "It's in your cage."

"And my car," Naofumi asked.

"We'll transport it to Rock Valley," Elrasla said, "You'll also have access to the files of the recruits we hope you'll choose for your tactical team."

"Of course," Naofumi said.

"Anything else," Elrasla asked.

"No ma'am," Naofumi said.

"Good," Elrasla said, "Now piss off."

Naofumi walked outside where he smiled a little bit as he walked to the team's old cage-room.

Inside, he saw that the team's cages had been completely cleaned out, save for the tuxedo that was hanging up in his cage, above a duffle bag for the clothes he had on.

The tuxedo was made of black silk, had a double-breasted jacket with no front-pockets, wide, notched lapels, three buttons on the sleeve, a vented back, and an internal red-colored lining. The pants were non-pleated, had a displaced fastening, and diagonal pockets. The shirt was the same color as the lining, while the tie was the same color as the jacket. The shoes were oxford shoes made of black leather, had rounded front stitching, a tan-colored inner lining, and red laces.

The first thing that Naofumi removed was his shirt which had the word 'HERO' in big bold letters with the symbol of the company which was a three-pointed star inside the 'O'.

As he removed his shirt, the female recruit passing by could help but stare: he looked like the chiseled character in an 80s action movie that would have a large car chase, massive explosions, a gigantic shoot-out, and huge stunts that would push the limit of human imagination.

You could, however, see he had been through a few wars: he had a large vertical burn scar running down the left side of his spin on his lower-back, an exit-wound from a bullet on his right shoulder-blade, and a nasty, jagged horizontal scar on his left.

As he was putting on his clothes, Itsuki walked in to see him halfway through tucking in his shirt, "Hey, how you doing," he asked.

"Could you try to be a little more mature," Naofumi asked as he buttoned the pants, and secured the belt.

"So, Rock Valley," Itsuki said, "You being the commander of a tactical team of a college town is the last place we would expect this job would take you."

"Yea," Naofumi asked as he fastened the last button on his shirt, and began working on the tie, "Where did you think this job would take me?"

"Honestly," Itsuki asked, "With your experience in the Army, we all thought you'd end up as the personal bodyguard to the Governor. You're the best operative I've ever led."

"And you're the best operator I've ever been led by," Naofumi said as he sat down to tie his shoes.

"You were an officer," Itsuki said, "I'm glad you're moving onto something else."

"So am I," Naofumi said as he stood up, "Maybe I need to start working in small-town Melromarc."

"I'm glad you think so," Itsuki said as he and Naofumi walked out of the cage room toward the exit.

"Yea," Naofumi said, "Me playing sheriff in a small town with a population of about fifty thousand."

"So, seriously," Itsuki said, "What's up with this fucking suit?"

"They want to have a press conference tomorrow morning," Naofumi said, "Meanwhile, Granny wanted me to have dinner with Rock Valley's Mayor and Chief of Police."

"Seems like an interesting idea," Itsuki said, "You going to be studying the personnel files that Granny will send you?"

"You know it," Naofumi said as they walked outside where the rest of the members of the former team were waiting.

"I didn't know that this was a formal event," Motoyasu said as he walked toward Naofumi who grabbed his hand as it came in.

"It's for when I get there," Naofumi said as they pulled apart.

"Well, this is it, boys," Ren said as he walked up to them with four beers, and passed them around.

The amber-colored bottles were thin at the base, then flared outwards, then back to the same thickness before hollowing out to the neck. The color of the bottle seemed to be very well balanced against the golden-colored foil where the name "Edelweiss" was written in big bold white letters.

"This is it," Naofumi said

"Our last day as Castletown Alpha Team," Ren said, "After this, we move onto bigger and better things. Our own units, our own subordinates, and our own offices."

"No matter how far we go," Naofumi said, "We will still be friends."

"May our friendship never dwindle," Itsuki said.

"May it not change," Ren said.

"And my it not change us," Motoyasu said as he held up his bottle.

"No change," they all said as they cheered their bottles.

The beer had a deep, rich, chocolaty flavor with a slightly hoppy aftertaste and a very nice zesty tang that hit you when it went down the back of Naofumi's throat.

As they finished the bottles, Motoyasu placed his on the ground, smashed it beneath his boot, and Itsuki exclaimed "Opa!"

"Mazel tov," Motoyasu said.

The team gave one last fist-bump before climbing into their Escalades and taking off.

The driver of Naofumi's Escalade was a young man about five foot nine, he wore a HERO Brigade tee-shirt, tactical pants, boots, and he had a 9mm Glock holstered in the door.

"You ready, Captain," the driver asked as he looked around to see Naofumi.

"Yes," Naofumi said as he picked up the dossiers of the trainees Elrasla had sent him.

The first one was of a former U.S. Army MP with a stellar arrest record, but a few blemishes for excessive force.

He dropped the dossier onto the seat next to him and continued.

The next one was an ex-Green Beret who had been accepted an offer made to him by the HERO Brigade in order to pay for his sister's medicine.

Name: Fohl Renaux
Rank: Recruit I
DOB: 6/11/2006
Height: 5'9
Prior Experience: Green Berets
Division: None

Naofumi placed the dossier into his lap and went back to the other files.

The next file was of a very attractive woman with long, light brown, almost red hair, and had very light-colored eyes, almost pink. Naofumi had no idea what to call that color.

Name: Raphtalia Tanuki
Rank: Recruit I
DOB: 9/27/2005
Height: 5'7
Prior Experience: Military Police
Division: None

"Excuse me," Naofumi said, "How long will it be before we arrive in Rock Valley?"

"Three and a half hours, sir," the driver said.

"Fantastic," Naofumi said.

Naofumi kept looking through the files, selecting two more recruits, before sitting back and falling asleep.

The dream was of his time on deployment in the Philippines during the Second Pilipino Insurrection.

His sniper team consisted of two men, himself and his spotter. The mission: neutralize a high-profile Separatist Officer before the Army began a coordinated attack against several Insurrection strongholds.

His primary weapon: a DSR-1 chambered in .338 Lapua, and his sidearm: a Colt 1911A1.

The jungle they were sent into was dense, lots of brush that they had to push through, and a ton of enemy patrols they had to evade.

They arrived to see their target was patrolling the stronghold that was conveniently out of the way of the advancing U.S. Forces.

One very precise shot, center-mass in the chest: the bullet cuts a hole through the body like a razor. What comes next isn't so precise: the impact from the bullet causes a transfer of force that his chest ruptured multiple internal organs, and broke most of his bones. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

Naofumi was about to dream some more before he heard someone scream, "HEY!"

Naofumi came too to see that it was night and that he was in the downtown heart of some city.

"We're in Rock Valley," Naofumi asked.

"Yes, sir," the driver said as he pointed to the restaurant across the street, "There's your stop."

"Thanks," Naofumi said as he stepped out.

As Naofumi crossed the street, he could see many girls looking at him, probably because they thought he was handsome, but he wondered if many of them were just looking at his suit.

As he entered, the restaurant, he saw that there was a very high-class atmosphere throughout the joint: men in suits, women in dresses, and bottles of wine all along the walls.

The floors were obviously made of a dark hickory wood while the ceiling was lined with some kind of reflective, mirror-like material that had waves in it that distorted the image like the sliding door of a shower.

"Excuse me, sir," the hostess said as she looked up at Naofumi, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," Naofumi said, "Party for the Mayor?"

"Mr. Iwatani," the hostess asked as she found the name on the list.

"Yes," Naofumi said as he pulled out his wallet, to show his I.D.

"This way, please," the hostess said.

The hostess led Naofumi to a booth in the back where two men sat.

The man on the left was tall, and he had a very outrageous beard that formed several spikes, the color was well on par with most clouds.

The man on the left was of a similar height, bald as a newborn mouse, and had multiple scars on his face.

"Mr. Mayor," Naofumi asked as he walked up to him.

"Mr. Iwatani," the man with the large beard asked as he stood up, and extended his hand.

"Pleasure," Naofumi said as he shook the man's hand.

"Allow me to introduce you," the mayor said as he pointed at his guest, "This is, Erhard Lindberg. Our Chief of Police."

"An honor, sir," Naofumi said as the three of them sat down.

"Allow me to say what an honor it is to have such a prestigious company like the Hero Brigade in a town like ours," the mayor said.

"We're happy you allowed us," Naofumi said before turning to Erhard, "And I would like to say, sir. I am very glad you didn't oppose this transition."

"It's in everyone's best interest," Erhard said, "You've had quite an impressive record with the Brigade. It actually said you were Army, but I couldn't find most of your records."

"There's not a lot about those records," Naofumi said as the waitress came over with three menus, "I've had a pretty boring career."

"It says you tried out for Ranger School, but the remainder of those records are pretty cookie-cutter Army record," Erhard said, "I take it you didn't make the cut?"

"I'll leave that up to your interpretation," Naofumi said as he looked at the menu, "If you don't mind gentlemen, I'll handle the drink selection."

"Excuse me, gentlemen," the waitress said as she walked up to them, "What can I get for you?"

She was dressed very extravagantly: black high heels with black stockings, a black pencil skirt that went just above her knees, a white button-up shirt, and a black, silk vest.

"I'll have the grilled swordfish," the mayor said, "I'd like that with the lemon-butter sauce."

"Could I take the braised lamb shank with the garlic risotto," Erhard asked.

"The filet in the burgundy sauce," Naofumi said, "And bring us some Grand Cru Geralde."

"Feeling generous aren't we," the waitress asked before turning back to the mayor, "Mayor Tanuki, always a pleasure."

Naofumi looked over at the mayor, Tanuki was the same name as one of the recruits he approved.

"So, Mayor Tanuki," Naofumi said, "You married?"

"Yes," Mayor Tanuki said, "I actually have a daughter that just recently joined the HERO Brigade. I tried to talk her out of it, but with my wife's medical bills due to her cancer, she couldn't resist."

How's that, better detail