"Please don't make me do PT. Please don't make me do PT." The Commander thought as his head continued to throb incessantly, his stomach feeling as if it was about to turn inside out.
Back in his old life, it seemed like every single time there was always one guy who either "forgot" or just thought that they were "built different", and lost the previous night's binge of beer and pizza all over the field. The Commander had managed to avoid being "That guy" for his entire term, and it would be tragically ironic if his turn was going to come now, after he had gotten out and joined on with a private firm as a Simulated Officer.
The door to the hangar softly whirred open, the Commander and RO stepped inside to find a massive reconstruction of a double-decker commuter plane in the place of the usual training course. The Commander stepped forward only to bang his foot on something solid, and looked down to see PPSH-41's construction mech toppled over, Papasha herself asleep at the controls, dark circles visible under her eyes.
"Did she do this overnight?..." The Commander asked to himself.
"We got the call to assemble it at midnight last night. Kalina was nice enough to donate some batteries to push her into overdrive, a few others and myself were also voluntold to help her out." ST AR-15's voice sounded as she stepped into view.
"Here I thought I was having a shitty morning..." The Commander commented sympathetically. "So what am I looking at here?"
STAR gestured towards the plane. "This is going to be your tactical training exam. A tubular assault against barricaded opposition, and one HVI you'll need to rescue."
"We're putting Rookies through Tubular Assaults and Hostage Rescue now? Are they really upping the standards that much?" The Commander asked.
"All I know is what I was told, Commander. I suppose after Belgrade, they decided to restructure our VIP protection curriculum." STAR replied with a shrug.
"Still, this sort of work seems like the type of thing they'd call Rainbow for, not a PMC...Then again, Rainbow hasn't really done anything besides play Paintball with each other since Clark and Chavez were running the show." The Commander thought out loud.
"Isn't Rainbow's existence supposed to be a closely guarded secret?" RO interjected.
"Yeah, it used to be, and look at us talking about them now. Their OPSEC is worse than SEALs at this point."
"It still sounds like you know more than just the name." RO pressed.
"If you're asking me whether or not my old unit had run a couple of Joint-Operations with them in the past, I'm afraid I wouldn't be allowed to tell you. We would have most certainly done all of the real work, though."
"Right, like I wouldn't be allowed to tell you that they'd say that the Ghosts are full of it..."
STAR cleared her throat. "Back to the subject at hand..."
"Right, this new update better not have fucked with the CROSS-COM. Commanding Dolls in that thing is going to be impossible if I can't see their feeds." The Commander refocused.
"You won't need to worry about that - you'll be the one going in there." STAR corrected.
"I guess we really aren't pretending that this is just a desk-job anymore...Who am I taking with me?"
"Nobody." STAR deadpanned.
"What?!" The Commander exclaimed.
"What, did the Army not teach you how to clear out a structure alone, Commander?"
"It did actually, it was a pretty short course - one word, in fact: Don't"
"Aw, what happened to 'I can take care of myself', Commander? Having second thoughts now that you don't have one of us to hide behind?" STAR asked mockingly.
"I never said anything about running into fortified buildings alone, I'm not that gung-ho."
"Excuses, excuses."
"Okay, seriously, is this really necessary? I haven't forgotten how to use a gun, especially given what's happened these past few months."
"Could have fooled them judging by those holes in your ceiling."
"That was you! You did that showing off that fucking one degree-throw safety lever and that Wish-dot-com auto-sear."
"It's called a Forced-Reset-Trigger." STAR corrected.
"Same shit! You're lucky K11 was willing to take care of the bodies of those ATF agents that burst out of the shipping crate it came in, that would not have been fun having to explain to Helian and Kryuger, especially after what SOP-II did to them when they tried to shoot her."
"Hey, it wasn't my fault, we told them that they were 10,000 miles outside of their legal jurisdiction and that they needed to buzz off, but then they just looked at SOP-II and it's like it set off some kind of reflex or something."
"Whatever, let's just get on with this..." The Commander grumbled in frustration as he made his way to the weapon's case on the table.
He popped the latches and opened it to find an MP5SD6 along with a couple of blue-painted magazines inside. He grabbed one of the magazines to inspect it and instantly recognized the cartridges that had been loaded inside. Sim rounds - basically bullet-shaped wads of soap with a compressed-air charge, harmless, but hurt like hell, especially at close range.
The Commander inspected the submachine gun and looked to the plane. "I guess small-caliber arms make sense, wouldn't want to breach the hull of that thing if it's airborne, and we don't want bullets flying through concealment if there are hostages in play..."
"Come on, don't act disappointed, I know you have a thing for that outdated antique." STAR teased.
"Says the girl who still uses a dickmod rail in 2064." The Commander shot back.
"Tch, you're a dickmod." STAR fired back.
RO sighed. "Really, you two? Can we just get this done?"
"Right, come this way, Commander." STAR motioned to follow.
The Commander locked the charging handle to the rear, slung the submachine gun over his shoulder, and took after her.
"Enemy strength?" The Commander asked as they walked.
"Unknown." STAR answered.
"Layout?"
"Classified."
"Location of the hostages?"
"Somewhere."
"Great..." The Commander grumbled.
STAR led the Commander around the back of the "plane" to loading ramp, which led to the start of the course. A small wall had been erected inside the plane with a small door leading into the course proper.
"One last thing." The doll said, handing out a face mask and a cup. "Put these on, you don't want any of those rounds going there."
"Right, this job busts my balls enough as it is..."
After the Commander had finished fitting himself with the protective gear, STAR swung the door open, cueing the Commander to step inside.
The Commander was greeted with a long hallway, one small bathroom immediately to the left. Further down, the corridor forked, a small conference room to the left and a narrow hallway, empty hallway on the left. Both of them converged into a small passenger seating area, followed by a doorway leading to another wall with two doorways on either side of it.
The Commander was struck with an overwhelming sense of Deja-Vu. This Scenario...This Layout...This gun...He recognized it almost instantly.
The Commander turned to STAR. "Surely, you can't be serious..."
"I'm serious - but don't call me 'Shirley'. We'll be waiting for you at the end." With that, STAR shut the door, leaving the Commander alone.
The Commander grabbed one of the blue magazines from his pouch, slipped it into the gun with a hearty click. He then canted the MP5 to the side, and slapped the charging handle downwards, which promptly slammed forward into battery.
"Shooter ready." the Commander called.
"Roger, in-role on the sound of the buzzer." STAR replied from the other end of the door.
After a couple seconds, the buzzer sounded. The Commander promptly brought the stock to his shoulder and began cautiously moving up. Even with a full squad, tubular assaults of this nature were a tactical nightmare, especially with civilians running around. Hard cover was practically non-existent, lots of hiding places for the enemy, especially if they thought to mix themselves in with the hostages, and any misplaced shots could easily strike an innocent bystander...And the Commander had to do this alone, with no intel to go off of...What kind of training was this, anyways?
The Commander moved to check the bathroom to the left - it was clear, he then moved to clear the small corner on the right...And found Thompson, with a dummy standing next to her, on top of her shoulders stood another dummy, and another dummy stood on top of the adjacent dummy's shoulders.
"You gotta be-"
"Rattle 'em, girls!" Thompson called out enthusiastically.
The Commander jerked back to avoid the barrage of gunfire, letting off a burst to pin his assailants down at the corner as he retreated into the bathroom. The moment he took cover by the door, however, a panel from the fake ceiling thudded by his feet. The Commander turned to find himself staring down the barrel of Five-Seven's...well, Five-Seven, who was hanging from the ceiling from her knees.
"Surprise, Commander!" Five-Seven smugly exclaimed before pelting him with sim-rounds.
"Fucking Sam Fisher wannabe!" The Commander shouted, returning fire as the barrage sent him stumbling back into the hallway. He had managed to nail Five-Seven with a well-placed burst, but he had inadvertently retreated directly into Thompson's line of fire in the process.
Bludgeoning impacts assaulted the Commander from all over as he desperately returned fire as he scrambled for some kind of cover, eventually finding it at a pillar a few feet behind him. Thompson and her dummies continued emptying their magazines, and once the barrage of wads had ended, the Commander swiftly peaked out and fired on the group, knocking out the three dummies as they reloaded. Thompson herself, however, had saved her ammo for this moment and let loose one final burst at him before he could get his shot off. The Commander growled in pain as his shoulder screamed.
The first engagement, and he had already gotten lit the fuck up - not a good look. The Commander's body ached all over as he took the opportunity to swap magazines, and stumbled onwards, grateful that STAR had at least given him the cup so the impact of the shots that landed there were dampened.
STAR checked her watch casually at the entrance to the course, and turned to SOP-II, who had just arrived wearing a gas-mask and carrying two canisters of CS gas just as she had been instructed to. "Aaaaand, that's a minute. Alright SOP, go hurry him up."
The Commander had just limped his way into the conference room when the sound of rapid footsteps coming from behind caused him to snap 180 degrees.
"COMMANDEEEEERRRR! GIMME A HUG!" Screamed SOP-II as she sprinted down the hallway, her hands outstretched and each holding a canister of CS Gas that was spewing its payload.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" Screamed the Commander as he fired into her torso, but she refused to even slow. "DAMN IT, CALL YOUR HITS! THAT'S CHEATING!"
"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME, COMMANDER! C'MERE!" SOP-II shouted with childish glee as she launched herself forwards and tackled the Commander to the floor.
The Commander's eyes and throat burned as SOP-II's arms curled around his torso, nearly crushing his ribs into his spine as she squeezed him tightly.
"Crushing...Crushing!" The Commander wheezed out as he coughed relentlessly.
"Awww, the Commander doesn't like me anymore!" SOP-II cried out as she pulled him tighter.
The Commander thrashed around as he coughed, gagged, and wheezed. Finally, he managed to knock of the blonde doll's gas mask and tossed it away, which almost immediately sent her into a coughing fit as she reflexively tried to grab it back. Seeing his chance, the Commander swiftly wrestled himself free of her grasp and stumbled to his feet.
The Commander gasped for air as he limped forwards towards the seating area, his eyes felt as if they were on fire as he struggled to keep them open. He had just reached the first row of seats when an ear-splitting noise nearly caused him to jump out of his boots.
"IDW DA NYAAAAAAAAA" Five high pitched voices screeched in unison as the SMG and her dummies spilled out from the doorway.
The Commander quickly tried to neutralize as many as he could while they were still in the fatal-funnel, but he only managed to nab two of them before he was forced to duck into the middle row.
One of the dolls suppressed him while the other two rushed him from both sides to flank - he needed to act fast. He swiftly peeked the corner of the seat and nailed the first doll, and turned the corner to escape the second's flanking attack. He had hoped to nail the third doll before either of them landed a hit on him and get to cover to deal with the second doll...Maybe he could have if he was John Wick, but he wasn't John Wick - he was a hungover, sleep-deprived has-been that was thoroughly seasoned with CS Gas. He managed to miraculously nail the third with a well placed shot, but he was still too slow.
"Too slow, da nya!" A voice called from behind as he felt a burst of slugs nail him right in the ass, knocking him over.
The Commander quickly rolled over and fired a burst into his assailant, knocking her "out", and once again stumbled to his feet, gritting his teeth.
Pulling himself together, the Commander cautiously moved to the passageway into the next area, and caught sight of M1014. The moment the sight of her registered, a massive wad of soap whizzed past his ear.
JESUS FUCK the Commander's reflexes screamed internally as he reflexively fired on his assailant, nailing her with two shots to the torso before his gun clicked empty.
That would have hurt if it hit him, this was getting ridiculous. He was going to be sore for days after this, it was time to get some payback.
"Gimme that." The Commander said as he dropped the MP5 to dangle from its sling and yanked the shotgun out of the doll's hands. He had probably already failed the training, if this even was supposed to be training and not an outright hazing, it was time to make them pay for it. If they wanted a fight, they were going to get it.
The Commander carefully cleared the door into the next room, which led to more seats with a stairway leading to the next deck at the end. The room appeared clear, save for a couple of blind spots, which he would have to check.
The Commander pressed forward, when all of the sudden, M200 suddenly sprang herself over a row of seats in the middle, launching herself in the air and spinning 360 degrees before rapidly bringing the scope to her eye as her muzzle turned on the Commander. The Commander nailed her with a slug in mid-air...just as he felt the impact of her slug hitting him square in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He could have sworn he heard a hitmarker sound too.
The Commander grimaced in pain as he struggled to get his focus back and scan for more threats, thanking the stars above that he didn't throw up while wearing that mask.
M200 thudded to the floor a few feet in front of him, and shuffled over to a nearby wall as the Commander tried to shake off the blow.
The Commander turned to M200 and shook his head in disbelief. "Fuckin' show-off..."
M200 cackled in response as she pulled a bottle of Mountain Dew™ and Doritos™ out of her pack and began snacking as the Commander stumbled onwards.
Walk it off, just...walk it off.
The Commander's legs cried out in agony as he slowly ascended the staircase, which split into two and led to doors on either side. Once again, two lanes to cover, and only one person. This was gonna suck, but he was getting close to the end.
Surprisingly enough, the seating area behind the doors was clear. I guess they had to have at least one area with nothing to mix things up, since everywhere else had one awful surprise or another. All that was left was one long corridor, and then the room where he presumed the hostage was going to be.
Of course, when he moved into the hallway, and away from usable cover, SKS sprang out and pelted him with more slugs.
Sure, more bruises, what's a couple more bruises? The Commander gnashed his teeth as he rushed forward into a small indentation.
"Ha! Who's the training dummy now, bitch?!" SKS called out triumphantly from the end of the corridor.
The Commander rolled into prone at the corner of the indentation, quickly acquired SKS, and barraged her with slugs. "Still you!"
The M1014 clicked empty, and the Commander tossed it aside. He grabbed the MP5 from its sling as well as a spare mag from his pouch. His eyes on the end of the corridor, he locked back the charging handle, hit the mag release, removed the empty magazine, switched it out with the full one, returned the mag to its pouch, and let the charging handle down before letting it snap forward into battery. One room left to go.
"It doesn't sound too good in there..." RO commented dejectedly, her and STAR waiting by the exit to the course on a platform attached to the "emergency exit".
"Looking at the plans we were given, it's probably working as intended." STAR replied casually.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in there with them, doing some kind of evaluation?" RO asked.
"Oh, the evaluation's easy - if he makes it to the end, he passes."
"No wonder they're not pulling any punches in there...Let me see how far along he is." RO said as she scanned the "plane".
Suddenly, RO's eyes widened. "Wait...I'm getting a Sangvis signal inside!"
STAR however, seemed unconcerned. "It's probably just a bug, you know how it gets when they try to 'update' things around here."
"Shouldn't we at least check?"
"Come on, RO, we've been here the whole time, and we've got almost a platoon of Dolls in there, do you really think a Sangvis unit could have gotten in there unnoticed? I mean, what could she have done, teleported inside?"
The Commander made his way down the corridor, and towards the entrance to the last room. Were they going to burst out with a human-shield? Probably, they were probably going to make him go for the headshot too, and count against him if he went for anywhere else. That's the kind of day this was...
His sights trained on the door, the Commander cautiously moved forward, and right on cue, the doors burst open...but what he saw caught him completely off guard.
Instead of a human-shield toting terrorist, M16A1 stood. Instead of her usual M16A1, however, she was wielding what appeared to be an M16A4, complete with a red-dot on the flat-top receiver, and a magazine that had been painted red.
"Six...Tee-AAAAHHH FUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKK" The Commander cried out as several bursts of sim-rounds slammed straight into his cup, which did little to dampen the impact of whatever she was using.
The Commander collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony as debilitating pain surged through his crotch and legs.
M16 cackled in amusement as she casually walked over to him. As she was standing over him, the Commander caught a glimpse of the writing on her magazine - "Stopping Power".
M16's eye locked with the Commander's. "Nobody will ever believe you." She stated, before she disappeared in a flash of blue light.
"What...the...fuck..."
"The shouting stopped, you think it's over?" RO asked after a long silence.
"Probably, that last one sounded pretty close." STAR replied.
"Do you think he might have passed out?"
"I don't know, maybe after a few more minutes we should go check on him..."
Suddenly, the knob on the door of the exit clicked as it slowly turned. The door swung open as the Commander stumbled into it before collapsing through the doorway with a thud, groaning in pain.
"Commander!" RO cried out and rushed to his side.
"Congratulations, Commander, you passed." STAR congratulated.
"What...the fuck...was that?" The Commander snarled out.
"Awww, you get some boo-boos in there?" STAR asked mockingly. "Come on RO, lift up his shirt, let's see."
STAR's teasing aside, RO did want to check on him, so she complied, slowly lifting up the Commander's shirt to see numerous welts and bruises peppered across his skin.
"These didn't even break skin, you big baby." STAR said dismissively. "Did you want RO to kiss them to make it better?"
"Shut up!" RO and the Commander hissed in unison, eliciting a chuckle from STAR.
"No...seriously, what the hell? That wasn't training, that was a fucking hazing!"
"Hey, don't look at me, I'm seriously just doing what I was told!" STAR threw her hands up.
"By who?"
"I don't know, I just found the notification in my task-list last night, I assumed it was Helian."
"I don't know...I'm not exactly Miss Helian's golden boy, but I don't think she'd arrange something like this, and RO found the new system pretty easy to hack..." The Commander pondered before turning to RO. "Think someone tapped into the new system and is pulling a prank?"
"Maybe...MDR would be my first suspect, though she doesn't usually do things this sophisticated, and even if she did manage to pull this off, she wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut about it." RO speculated.
"The brain parasite, maybe?" STAR suggested.
"I think you'd be the one running the course if that was the case - at the very least, she wouldn't be letting you come out unscathed." The Commander shot the theory down.
"For now, there's nothing but conjecture to go off of, you've still got some more courses to complete, let's talk to the Dolls in charge of those and see if we can figure out what's going on. Maybe we can talk them into waiving you as well." RO suggested.
"Guess there's not much choice..." The Commander sighed as he began to pick himself up.
RO rushed to help him, taking his arm over her shoulder, and the two steadily moved down the platform and on to the next course.
Who the hell would have it out for me this much? Did I say something wrong to somebody? Who could I have pissed off recently that would pull something like this off?...
