The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit. -Morihei Ueshiba
Ruby Woke up to the annoying ring of her Phone's alarm clock; she had slept well after returning from yesterday's mission and the warm embrace of the blanket and pillow had certainly helped in her sound sleep. She stood up and got on with her morning routine; she had managed to buy a toothbrush amongst other things as well as a new set of pajamas and a towel. 'Strangely the toothpaste was provided but not the brush' she thought as the bristles scrubbed at her teeth and gums. She went over to her closet to pick up her uniform, sword and rifle (Her mentor had mentioned that all overseers within the base must be able to show themselves to be armed at all times except when in their private quarters, odd but rules were rules).
She left for the canteen as a part of a gentle stream of people coming down for their breakfast. Ordering herself a bowl of porridge with chocolate syrup she sat on one of the tables and looked around for Overseer Blair, sure enough he came over with a steaming soup of some sort and sat opposite her.
"I trust you've done all the admin the guidebook recommended?" he said, still half asleep
"Yep" replied Ruby while shovelling another mouthful down her throat "I've done everything in there unless there's a second page… Oh crap, I didn't turn the page over!" she panicked
"I'm pretty sure there was only one anyway… but that's beside the point. I meant if you have all the issued equipment yet"
"Yeah, I've got my rifle, pistol and sword"
"Alright then, I suppose in that case I should begin doing my job and do some teaching, meet me in the atrium beside the hangar with all your weapons and whatever came with them. Got it?" with her nod he left, placing his empty bowl on the side. She also followed his example and cleared he bowl and placed it on the table beside his, a canteen worker promptly came by and collected their plates and Ruby ran up back to her residence to collect the equipment Blair requested.
Overseer Blair patiently waited for his new student to arrive, and soon she did; with a face full of sweat and a large bag of equipment alongside her weapons. He gestured him to follow her and they exited into the hangar and out of the door. He flashed his ID to the poor bastards assigned to security and gestured for Ruby to do the same. After leaving the bunker's confines they walked a little while before reaching a plain patch of grass with a small lake to the side; a few other overseers were there, some fishing in the clear blue lake and the others taking swings at each other in addition to one whom was sunbathing with a broadsheet newspaper covering their head.
He took his own pack and withdrew a large picnic blanket, laying the massive sheet on the ground he spoke up "Okay Ruby, this is where I'll train you hereon. Meet me here daily with all the equipment you have now" seeing her about to whine he said "Don't whine, this is good for your legs" and so training began.
He first showed her what each piece of her kit was and explained how it worked; from the tent which consisted of two poles and a tarpaulin to her multitool they looked over each item and he spoke of uses and just how effective the minimalistic pieces of kit were.
Having finished an hour later he began to explain how the Breaker Rifle Ruby had selected worked. It was one of the first rifles used by their Overseer Order since landfall due to its simple and rugged design and effective performance on the battlefield. The only bit which was so simple Ruby had some trouble with it was the blowback system which allowed the rifle to fire semi-automatically. It was essentially just a tube welded on to the barrel which ended in front of the bolt, as a bullet left the chamber the massive amount of gas released from the cordite would enter the hollow tube and exit at the bolt; forcing it backwards and chambering another round through its sheer force alone.
As a result however the mechanism was somewhat inconsistent but only required the bolt to be pulled back manually to fix and thus the problem was overlooked in addition to the gust of wind released into the shooter's face every time the gun was fired. Nevertheless it remained a popular choice for Overseers since the powerful 9.23 Cartridge was powerful enough to punch through the bony parts of the Grimm carcass.
Still these problems were either solved or mitigated over time as the rifle's design was modified and modified by countless gunsmiths to reach where it got to today. That being a lean mean killing machine; foe of Man and Grimm alike but most importantly still suited for mass production.
On the other hand her one-shot pistol was as unique as it got. It was basically a pipe with a grip and trigger built onto it, the pipe bearing a single regulation 12 gauge shell. It was simple yet effective despite the single shot it offered due to its light weight and mobility. It required only the barest of maintenance just like its fellow rifle (Although he stressed the importance of maintenance anyway to prevent rust and dust build up).
Her sword of course required little to no maintenance aside from sharpening it after each assignment and oiling the leather of its grip.
He also showed her how to set up some of the other equipment such as the tent and camping stove she was issued for long missions while telling her of that one time he was sent on a long range patrol. Soon enough the hours had passed to color the sky orange, when they finished up and Blair showed her one last thing.
His weapon was the MR 37; a bullpup design. Extremely compact and futuristic in its aesthetic and beautiful in its feel, it even purred like a cat when silenced as it currently was. He needed to show her this since most Overseers were expected to be at least proficient in all the 'base weapons' the Order fielded.
With the disassembly and reassembly of their equipment done they headed back to the hangar. Ruby was certainly intrigued by the multitude of equipment available to her and just as she began reminiscing on her old scythe Overseer Blair spoke up "Well Ruby, what can I say; you're an excellent student- we'll have this covered in no time and perhaps I'll even get another mission for you" sing her excitement he continued "Tomorrow is a weekend, I won't be training you on those days so do whatever; although I would recommend simply having a wonder about the base. You don't want to use your guidebook for all travel do you?"
Leaving her with that thought they parted to head wherever, she herself felt kind of hungry and thus headed down to the canteen to grab herself some dinner. Ordering herself a delicious looking steak of some sort and some mashed potato she sat down to see the High Overseer himself enter the hall. Immediately all eyes were on him; the room once lively turning to silence.
"Good evening Overseers" he announced "Next Monday we'll be conducting on a new weapon. We need everyone available so no leave will be given on that day, I expect you all to arm up and prepare yourselves; expect a fight that is all" and with that he exited
The earlier unnoticed aside beside him spoke up "More information will be sent out to your phones by tomorrow" before leaving himself. The room reverted to its previous atmosphere although it was quite obvious that now they were gossiping about what this weapon was.
Ruby herself decided to simply read the thing the administrators would send out about it instead of gossiping to a neighbour she didn't know. She left minutes later after handing in her tray and headed to her room, there she began to unpack the stuff she'd bought yesterday in Murmansk and neatly put it away into her closet. After then completing her evening routine she threw off her uniform and clambered into bed.
The weekends passed as quickly as they came; she spent most of her time at the firing range they had near the weapon workshops and occasionally went around without the assistance of her map in order to get familiar with the base's layout. Those trips were interesting to say the least, like when she stumbled into a room with massive maps of the surrounding forest and nearby towns and cities. She had looked over them with interest until a guard came over and told her to clear off.
Meanwhile her time at the firing range certainly paid off; she learned by watching the others fire their rifles as well as occasionally asking them for pointers (which they had no problem giving). In the end she no longer struggled to get stripper clips in her Breaker Rifle and could do it at nearly the same speed as a normal mag-replace reload, her already good marksmanship skills now adjusted to her weapon.
She also learned how to use the bayonet which came with her rifle by stabbing at a tree outside of the bunker at the direction of another overseer who was doing a similar drill.
Today was the day the so called 'test' was to be held; details had indeed been sent out by the administrative division. All overseers were to head up in full arms, they were then to prepare trenches for the assault – the thing they were testing was a chemical agent of sorts designed to attract Grimm, but they had no idea how effective this would be and thus all stops were being pulled.
Arriving upstairs in full battle gear Ruby saw a good hundred or so Overseers standing at-arms and she swiftly moved to join them, she had fortunately arrived just in time not to be late as the High Overseer exited the elevator and headed over to their group "Good day all" he began "I believe you've already read the letter we've sent out but to re-iterate were testing some gas which could be used to potentially attract Grimm, first you will dig trenches in front of the base; about 1m deep. Get going!"
The large crowd of people began withdrawing entrenching tools and some went over to the hangar to grab a shovel there. It was noticeable how despite his age even Overseer Campbell helped out. The trench was completed in no time and the whole group formed a line within their meagre line, thankfully they had piled the dirt in front of them to provide an additional meter of cover which allowed just enough room for rifles to be levelled in every direction.
"Once again I apologise for this inconvenience, however I have hired the gentlemen behind me to provide you with some music while you fight, hopefully this should compensate you somewhat" announced the High Overseer as he climbed out of the trench and pointed towards the men behind them who were obviously a band seeing the equipment they were setting up. She did not recognise the band herself but hearing the whispers among the crowd led her to believe that they were known as 'Sabaton' and that they were obviously quite popular around these parts.
They stood in relative silence as a few minutes passed when two men in full biohazard gear appeared through the hangar door carrying a yellow barrel; one carried a punching dagger while the other carried a loudspeaker. "Alright everyone, listen up; this stuff is not poisonous except in extreme concentrations! Don't worry about it!" with that declaration placed the canister down (Around 100m from the trench). "We are now releasing the compound!" declared the loudspeaker as a thick black smoke began emitting from the holes punched by one of the men's daggers. It rose and dissipated just like any other smoke, the men now running back to the trench's safety.
For five minutes or so there was nothing. Literally nothing; even the birds stopped chirping as the black smoke finally stopped emanating from the canister. But suddenly…
A massive roar was heard from the forest as literally thousands of Grimm descended upon the trenches. The band behind them began playing; a war song of some sort but it was drowned out by the sheer firepower packed by those standing beside her. The long rifles opened up first, their 20mm shells cutting rows through the horde, their massive blasts of noise providing a good backdrop for the other instruments to begin playing. Next the Breaker rifles opened up and ruby joined in as the Grimm were now literally falling by the hundreds. Lastly the MRs opened up, spraying the air with lead.
The Grimm were unable to get any closer than 15m to their trenches before being mowed down by this river of lead. Suddenly a Cry rang out over both music and gunfire "Anyone want some practice, do it now, we'll cover" in response the fire died down although this didn't do much since there were few Grimm whatsoever who survived. The few that did however charged at the Overseers who exited the trench and took out their swords. Ruby joined them over the top to see a literal black sea of corpses spewn over the battlefield and slowly turning into black smoke. The first one that came at her was quickly dispatched by her sword but as the enemy kept coming she decided to try something new.
Sheathing her sword she took her rifle off her back and put on the Bayonet she was issued with. Running at the Grimm as if it were a spear she impaled one and then withdrew quickly to stab another one in the neck as the large Beowulf tried to slash her from behind.
In the end the Grimm simply ran out of man(wolf)power to throw at the trenches and those standing over their meagre sides. The band behind them stopped playing and began to pack up their instruments. High Overseer Campbell also came out of the background and spoke up "Congratulations. There are no more Grimm let anywhere near here!" the declaration was met with a cheer from all those present but he continued "What you just saw there was a new chemical designed to attract the Grimm in mass quantity to divert them from attacking our cities! And once they reach the canisters we'll firebomb their asses to the hell they spawned from!" another, even louder HURAH! Emanated from the crowd of Overseers as they realised what this would mean for their fight to reclaim the Mycellian Continent from the Grimm.
They headed back down to be greeted as heroes by those that chose not to go up, Ruby herself was approached by Overseer Blair and given a pat on the back for her excellent performance; he had watched the whole thing on television, the battle had apparently been broadcast over the local TV station to boost morale and it had certainly worked given the joyous shouting of those within the place and beyond.
But she was certainly not going to stick around for the after-party and instead headed up to her quarters, upon reaching which she lay down on her bed and simply lay there; lavishing the moment and the feeling of it.
Well I hope you enjoyed that… but I noticed that I'm not getting many reviews despite nearly 200 ppl per day reading my story. Plz review or I can't improve or revise the story!
