Part 7 – Training – Part 4

The day after Naofumi promoted Raphtalia to Sergeant, the team gathered at the city's decommissioned Airforce base, the city's police were busy at work on a decommissioned Boeing 747.

"Alright team," Naofumi said as the team gathered next to Grizzly, "This is it," he pointed at the airplane, "The Chief of Police and the Mayor are up there, and we have to prove ourselves."

"What's the situation," Raphtalia asked.

"Three city police posing as terrorists armed with handguns," Naofumi said, "Multiple different officers posing as hostages. They're demanding that the Governor release a number of their imprisoned comrades held in the country's jails and give them fuel. The Governor made it clear that she won't negotiate with terrorists. The deadline for delivering their men expires in half-an-hour, and they've threatened to kill one hostage every five minutes their demands are not met. So, they called us in."

"So, we have half-an-hour to come up with a plan," Fohl asked.

"Yep," Naofumi said, "Since this was a politically-charged simulation, they want me to coordinate efforts," he then looked over at Raphtalia, "Sergeant, you're gonna led this one."

"Ok then," Raphtalia said as she walked up to the plans, "We'll enter here," she pointed at the legs, "Every plane has an under-carriage for baggage, and there are multiple entrances into the plane itself."

"There are four of you, and three of them," Naofumi said, "But don't forget what I taught you yesterday."

"You make an assumption, and a hostage could die," Fohl said as he looked at the plans before pointing at a small alcove in the center of the plan, "What about here?"

"What's that," Raphtalia asked.

"It's a small hatch that the stewardesses use to bring up the food carts that are loaded onto the planes before they take off," Fohl said.

"Looks small," Naofumi said, "Think you could fit through there?"

"Me," Fohl asked, "No," he then turned to look at his sister.

"You want your sister to go in there," Naofumi asked.

"She's the only one that can fit in there," Fohl said, "Plus, they don't know about this, so how could she be in danger?"

"Ok then," Naofumi said, "You guys ready?"

"Ready," Raphtalia said.

"Ready," Fohl said.

"Ready," Sadeena said.

"Ready," Alta said.

"Ok then," Naofumi said, "Get your guns and get in Grizzly. Beauty Queen, you're driving."

As Naofumi walked up to the airplane, he saw Chief Erhard and Mayor Tanuki standing at the top of the stairs waiting for him.

"Captain," Chief Erhard said, "Your team ready?"

"You know it," Naofumi said as he followed them into the observation post.

"Ok," Mayor Tanuki said, "Shall we begin?"

"Looks like negotiations have failed," Chief Erhard said.

Naofumi picked up his radio, "Here we go," he said as he hit the talk button, "Team, sound off."

"Ready," Raphtalia said.

"Ready," Fohl said.

"Ready," Sadeena said.

"Ready," Alta said.

"Ok," Naofumi said, "In three, two, one, hammer down," the clock instantly started ticking down.

Raphtalia started up Grizzly and drove right up toward the back of the plane.

Most tactical teams roll up from the rear of the plane because there are no windows that way, and there is no way to see who's approaching.

As the team exited Grizzly, Raphtalia took point, the team marched up to the wheels and very quickly climbed inside.

Luckily the floor above was soundproof, otherwise, they could have been turned into Swiss cheese if not and this was a real situation.

"How'd you know about this," Sadeena asked as Fohl walked up to the lift, and pulled the door open for his sister.

"I've known a few flight attendants," Fohl said as he ushered Alta inside.

"Just a few," Sadeena asked.

As she entered, Sadeena and Fohl walked up to the hatch that opened up to the front area of the plane, near the observation post.

Raphtalia meanwhile chose the area near the bathroom. The sink in an airplane is held into place with a very strong acrylic-based binding agent.

Luckily, the Brigade had a way around that: a compressed aerosol canister filled with liquid nitrogen.

A pair of heavy-duty rubber gloves and a thin directional straw was more than enough for Raphtalia to freeze the binder and pop the counter off.

As she stepped out, Fohl and Sadeena were checking the entrance to the main cabin: nothing.

Fohl gently lifted the hatch which allowed Naofumi, Erhard, and Mayor Tanuki to see him climb out, and extend a hand to Sadeena who accepted it when she climbed out herself.

"Beauty Queen, ready," Raphtalia said.

"Little Sis, ready," Alta said.

"Tiger and Supermodel, ready," Fohl said.

"On my count," Naofumi said, "In five, four, three, two, one… execute."

Fohl and Sadeena came around the corner, and one of the cops dressed as hostiles turned around to see Fohl raise his MP5, and fire twice: two shots in the chest.

The third turned and saw Sadeena drill him three times in the torso.

The last one walked up toward the front, only to be tripped by someone's leg, and as he went to stand up, he was hit twice in the back with a pistol.

"Two tangos down in One-Alpha," Fohl said.

"One tango down in Two-Alpha," Alta said.

"Come on," Naofumi said, "There's one more. There's a sleeper."

The final tango, disguised as a civilian stood up with a cop-issued Glock 19 and aimed at Alta, only to be shot twice in the side.

He looked over and saw Raphtalia standing there holding her MP5, then smiled.

"One tango down in Three-Alpha," Beauty Queen said.

Naofumi looked down as Erhard stopped the clock: 12 minutes, and 18 seconds.

"That's a new record," Erhard said.

"So, Mr. Mayor," Naofumi said as he turned toward Mayor Tanuki, "We allowed to operate here?"

Mayor Tanuki walked over to the table inside the observation post, opened his briefcase, and after signing one piece of paper, he walked back over to Naofumi and held it out to him.

Naofumi looked down at the paper, and it was a 25-million-dollar contract for five years.

"Congratulations, Captain," Mayor Tanuki said as he held his hand which Naofumi shook, "You earned it."

"No," Naofumi said as he turned his attention to the team, "We did it," he held up the contract which caused them to cheer.

After the team left the plane, Fohl turned to Naofumi and asked, "So what's on the agenda now, boss?"

"Now, we get you strapped," Naofumi said, "I need you four carrying around weapons that suit your status as Brigade operators."

"I know just the place," Raphtalia said.

The team climbed into Grizzly, and Naofumi looked back at his team, "Buckle in," he said, "We're not on call, and we still have to abide by traffic laws."

The shop was about two miles from downtown, on one of the town's busiest streets.

As they pulled up (if you were inside), you'd see the owner's face just light up.

As they walked in, they saw a young woman in her early twenties with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes standing behind the counter.

"Welcome to Seaetto Arms," she said before seeing Raphtalia, "Raph!"

"Hello Eclair," Raphtalia said as she walked up to her, and hugged her over the counter.

"What are you doing here," Eclair asked.

"We just won the contract to be the town's tactical team," Raphtalia said.

"That's great," Eclair said, "So this is your team?"

"That's right," Raphtalia said before turning toward her team, and pointing at Sadeena, then the other members of the team, "You know her, those two are Fohl and Alta," she finally pointed to Naofumi, "And that's our Captain, Naofumi Iwatani."

"Welcome to my shop," Eclair said, "So what are we doing today?"

"We need some service arms," Naofumi said.

"Pistols," Eclair said, "Nice," she then ushered the team over to the display case where she kept the pistols, "Take your pick, we have a range in the back you can use."

Fohl was the first to walk up to the counter to check the weapons underneath the glass.

"Let me take a look at this USP," Fohl said.

As Eclair was pulling out the USP, Alta pointed at a small Glock, "What is that one," she asked.

"That's a Glock 26 I just got in," Eclair said, "Never been fired before."

"I'll try that," Alta said.

Sadeena walked up to the case, and pointed at an S&W pistol, "That M&P," she asked.

"Your turn, beauty queen," Naofumi said.

"No need," Eclair said, "I have something special that I've been saving just for her," Eclair went behind the counter, and pulled out a special case.

"Is that," Raphtalia asked.

Eclair opened the case to reveal a military-standard Beretta M9A3 with custom medallions imprinted into the grips.

The one on the right was a katana, and the one on the left was of her initials.

"Not bad," Naofumi said, "Issued side-arm?"

"It was a leftover after they moved to the M18," Raphtalia said.

"Ok then," Naofumi said, "Time to decide on customizations. Go crazy!"

That night

In celebration of the team becoming the town's tactical unit, Raphtalia suggested that the team go out at a local restaurant that she and Sadeena knew very well.

"So, your dad owned this place," Sadeena asked as Fohl sat across the table from her.

"Yea," Fohl said as he pointed at a picture just behind her showing a picture of him, Alta, his father, and mother standing in front of the restaurant when it was new.

"Wow, you were cute when you this place opened," Sadeena asked.

"Were cute," Fohl said, "Who's to say I'm not still cute?"

"I do," Alta said.

The team started breaking up laughing as Fohl and Alta's mother walked up to the table, "Won't you two ever get along," she asked.

"Hey mom," Fohl said.

"Aren't you going to introduce me," Lucia asked.

"Mom," Fohl said, "These are the members of Rock Valley's new tactical team, me and Alta's team. This is, Sadeena, our Sergeant, Raphtalia, and our Captain, Naofumi."

"So good to meet you," Lucia said as she shook all of their hands, before turning toward the back, "Johnny! Get your butt up here and take their orders!"

"So, tell me, boss, how did we do on the simulation," Fohl asked.

"You got us the contract, and no one went home injured," Naofumi said, "In this industry that's the equivalent of striking oil. As far as the coordinated effort, though, it was beyond textbook. However, that was just a simulation, and we were using standard armaments. Tomorrow you're going to be training on different weapon systems so I know what to issue you. So, if one of you ends up with a shotgun, make sure you know what you're loading in the magazine, or the hostage might not live to tell the tale. But you did good, so let's celebrate, because tomorrow, we're the city's SWAT team."

After ordering, Naofumi stood up, and walked over to the old-style jukebox, and dropped about two dollars and fifty cents into the machine, and choose a few songs.

The song he primarily choose was old-school rock and roll music, "You like classic rock," was the first question out of Raphtalia's mouth.

"I love classic rock," Naofumi said, "It was the only thing that me and my father could bond over when I was a child."

"Favorite band," Fohl asked.

"When I was a kid," Naofumi asked, "KISS, all day long."

"Same here," Fohl said as he held out his hand to Naofumi who bumped it with his own.

"Right on," Naofumi said.

"I have to say, I enjoyed some of their earlier stuff," Raphtalia said, "But I think I like AC/DC a little bit more."

"Wow," Naofumi said, "Not my absolute first choice, but still awesome."

"I have to say one of my favorites was Aerosmith," Alta said.

"Dude," Naofumi said as he gave Fohl a small knuckle-tap on the shoulder, "Your sister's got good taste in music."

"I know," Fohl said, "I spent most of my life hearing that first hand."

"What was your favorite growing up," Sadeena asked.

"Bon Jovi," Fohl said.

The team let out a slight chuckle, "Not a bad choice, but still a little funny," Naofumi said, "You don't really look like a Bon Jovi fan."

"I know," Fohl said.

Well, I'm going to make like a cowboy on a steel horse I ride, and blaze my way out of here, onto the next chapter, keep it real my friends