Author's note

I got this up late again. I think I am incredible at this. But before you guys pull out the pitch forks, I have a pretty good excuse...I think...Please don't tie me to a stake and set me on fire.

For this chapter I experimented with a few things. First is me trying out a third POV on the story. The next one is improving on the battle scene. This includes a better description of the battle ground, team composition, their mindset and battle strategy. And let me tell you the last one is damn difficult to do. But I got it done! And hopefully its not complete shit! Haha!

Also I added some history into this and a few chapter before this! For this chapter it is the early Roman army's way of battle. They would use Hastati as the first group followed by the Principes and last is the Triarii. This particular formation was early in Rome history and was replaced sometime later. Don't ask me because I completely forgot about it. It was in some documentary for those who are curious.

So do let me know what do you guys think of the third person POV and if I should incorporate it more in the story as well as the battle scene. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated. So Enjoy!

Chapter 9

It was their first match on the national level. What more, it was the Annual National SurCom Competition or ANSC for short. They were only junior year students of Sparta High and only a recent addition to the school's SurCom team. To be selected to represent the school on a national level at that stage is shows the school and the SurCom team's confidence in these five first year's ability. Newcomers could expect to to represent the school in lesser matches but only exceptional ones could maybe hope to be in a national match. The five who were sitting quietly with their seniors were selected over at least five other senior year squads. However, none of the seniors present dared to question their abilities. They have all seen their juniors in action and all present were awed by their performance. Besides, the team is already guaranteed entry to ANSC so there is no harm for these newcomers to have a go at it.

"Boss, you sure you're okay for the match?" Soujiro asked Keiji as he rested his head against the wall. "You can always sit this out."

"I am fine. The fever gone down a bit last night." Keiji said still leaning against the wall. "I'll rest after this match."

"Alright boys! Let's go! Remember your training and follow the plan. Victory will be assured!" Vice captain Suzaku called out earning a chorus of approval from the team. Everyone proceeded to exit the prep room and boarded vehicles that will bring them to their starting point.

For a SurCom team to qualify in the ANSC, it has to participate in three preliminary rounds with no more than sixty members per round and win at least twice to participate in the competition. Each match will be against a different school so that even weaker teams would have a higher chance to enter the competition. The match itself is a modified version of the 'capture the flag' match. The team must capture the opposing team flag and hold it for sixty seconds. And instead of both team having a base for the flag, they are allowed to move their flag as they saw fit. Currently, the boys from Sparta High are on their third round with two wins already in the bag. If it were any other case, no one would have allowed junior years to participate. The risk of elimination would be too high and Sparta High would not allow such a risk. However, despite the insignificance of this match, Keiji and his squad cannot help but feel excitement. To them it is a privilege regardless of how the others thought of it and they will give their very best.

While on the way to their starting point, Suzaku pulled out the map of the competition area to go through the plan with the all squad leaders a final time. The map reveals a square one by one kilometres of jungle with vegetations thick that it limits line of sight to roughly two hundred and fifty metres. This little patch of land that was rained over the previous day will be their battleground. On the western side, there is a rough circular hill with a base of seven hundred and fifty metres diameter and a peak of two hundred and fifty metres in diameter. Only half of the hill itself is in the map creating a semicircular highground on the western end of the vegetation there is less dense than the area the hill overlook. The far eastern end of the map is a sharp contrast with it only being covered with grass roughly two hundred and fifty metres wide stretching from the top of the map to the bottom effectively creating a rectangular shaped clearing where one can stand on the northern end and have an unobstructed view of the southern end.

"Alright, as you all know the hill and the clearing gives us little cover so we will be avoiding them like the plague. No self respecting group would even think of advancing through those areas. That leaves us with only the slot in the middle of the map to advance. We will be starting at the southern end while the opposing team starts on the north. After advancing two hundred and fifty metres, Flag Platoon will set up shop in a right echelon formation facing the east. The other three platoon will advance through the slot with First Platoon on the left, Second Platoon on the right and Command Platoon will under me as reserve following behind." Suzaku explained with his hand gesturing at the point of interest on the map. "Remember to send scouts ahead and when we engage them we will flank them with machine gun fire. Also remember the order of battle. Each squad has five guys and three squad makes a platoon. First and Second will advance in wedge formation with the leading squad sending a scout."

"We been over this earlier VC. Don't worry about it!" A third year member said smacking Suzaku on the back. He is the leader of Flag Platoon while Keiji is the leader of the First Platoon and a second year student is in charge of the Second Platoon. "It may be your first time commanding but there's no pressure! We already qualify for the ANSC afterall. This match is more like an obligation to complete the three rounds needed. We shouldn't be exerting ourselves this much. Plus if we are lax in this battle, the other teams would lower their guard in the ANSC and we would be able to crush them without mercy."

"That's strategy right there man! Planning for a future victory!" Someone agreed.

"You got that right! We are in the ANSC to win!" Another added and a few others shouted in agreement. However, Keiji gave no response. It maybe because he disagreed with them or it maybe because of the uncomfortable body ache that comes with the fever giving him a hard time. At the moment he cannot decide on which is keeping him quiet.

The team their facing is from The Old Rome High School or more commonly referred to as TOR High. Their usual tactic is similar to the Rome of old. They would deploy their first years as vanguard, the second year behind them and the third year behind those. The logic of this is that the first years would soak up more experience as the vanguard while the second year providing aid as needed and the third years stepping in when the situation requires it. This system would always ensure that when a first year eventually become a third year student he will have enough experience to teach his juniors. However, with them winning one match and losing another, they needed a paradigm shift. And that is exactly what Tanaki, the captain, did. Rather than the traditional three line advance with the first years as vanguard and third year as reserve to engage the enemy in a standard shootout and possible flanking move, this time around they would be encircling the enemy.

At the field where spectators have gathered to watch the match via a giant television screen, a couple found a comfortable spot to watch the match. It was the first time watching their son in a match and they could not be more excited of it. As they sat, the loudspeaker begins its introduction of the day's match while the screen shows two man in their mid thirties sitting behind a desk.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our third match of the day! It is the match between Sparta High and TOR High! Jerry here! Tom and I are your hosts for the match!" Jerry, the announcer with a short stubble beard, said with too much energy. "Tom what do you think is going in this match? What are your predictions?"

"Well Jerry, as it stands now, Sparta High has already won two matches allowing them into the ANSC while TOR High still needs one more. Basing on these scores we can expect a relatively one sided match." said the clean shaven man sitting to Jerry's right.

"And why is that Tom?"

"You see Jerry, though Sparta High is known to be one of the top school when it comes to SurCom, and they are also known to consider the long term. What that translates to in this situation is that they would likely just put in enough effort to not embarrass themselves rather than to win it. Since they already have two win they would probably want to conserve their fighting strength for future matches. On the other hand, TOR High needs another win so they would probably go all out here."

"Planning ahead for the big win. As expected of Sparta High." Jerry said as he flipped through a list of students participating in this match. "And to prove your point Tom, today they even allowed a squad of junior year students to participate. An unprecedented move by them. And to have the vice captain in command instead of the captain, it seems that they had already written this match off to preserve their veterans for the future."

"Indeed they have. And for those who are wondering, Sparta High is a bit unique. Their first years are usually called junior years while their second years are first years and third years are called second years. This is because the school itself has an extra year. The senior year students. This is offered to students who are planning to enter for university. So far only Sparta High has offer such a class and any students in this senior year would act as advisors to any of the school's club. I suspect that is what we are seeing here Jerry. Probably a senior year has advised them on the appropriate stance to take and the Sparta High students are taking it."

"It's no wonder Sparta High has such a solid reputation in SurCom and any other sports. Having the most experienced students guide them really gives the school an edge!" Jerry exclaimed. "But to me it seems like someone is trying to cover up some plot issue with this! Quite a sloppy writing if you ask me!"

"Careful with the fourth wall breaking there Jerry." Tom warned with a laugh. "We don't want them to know we can do that."

"Neh dear, it sounds like his team is not going to be doing much in this match. Will our boy be okay?" The lady asked her husband. She is clearly concern about her son. "They said that it is not the norm for junior year to participate."

"He will be alright Takagi. He is a very strong willed boy after all. There's no way he will just sit around and have that kind of a match." Her husband said patting her head to comfort her.

"Reminds me of a certain someone." Takagi said eyeing her husband playfully. "A certain someone who keeps trying to confess to me no matter how many times he failed."

"O-Oh. Really? I wonder who was it. He he..." The man said awkwardly laughing. He knew it was him but refuse to openly admit it.

"Hm...You don't really know?" Takagi asked with a smug smile plastered on her face as she looked her husband in his eyes. "In the end he screamed 'Hwa! Why is it so hard to confess to you!? Every time when the mood is right something comes up and ruin it! Argh! It's so hard to tell you that I love you!' at me and then proceeded to kiss me." She said imitating what happened some ten plus years ago.

"Oi. I don't remember kissing you on the spot. In fact, we didn't even kiss until our…" The man said correcting Takagi halfway before realising that his wife would never mistake what happened that day. Then it dawned on him that he has been had. Seeing the look of realization on his face, Takagi covered her mouth and laughed at her husband's expense.

"So you do know who was it, Shinji." Takagi stated showing a smug smile.

"I-It was me. A-Anyway the match is about to start."Shinji said redirecting Takagi's attention back to the giant screen in front of them.

After a quick announcement by the commentator the match was on. In the northern end, TOR High students advanced with quick haste to their positions. In the centre, ten second and third year students with a variety of assault rifles advanced a short distance from the starting point and set up a defensive line to defend the flag. The other ten third years, half armed with light machine guns and the other half being the best shooters with assault rifle, made their way to the extreme left towards the clearing where they would advance southwards. Between these two groups are the twenty first year students advancing in two columns through the forest. They together with the ten remaining second years, also equipped with at least five light machine guns, which are proceeding on the right towards the hill would flank Sparta High while after the centre group engaged them. Then the third years on the extreme left would move into the rear of Sparta High closing the trap and hopefully tip the scales in TOR High's favour if not completely winning the match. All of them knew this is their last shot to enter the ANSC and they will bitterly contest for it.

On the other end of the map, Sparta High advanced at a more leisurely pace. Barring Keiji and Suzaku's squad, the rest of the team moved with a very relaxed attitude and not even bothering to scan their assigned areas. Idle conversations filled the team's radio as they slowly crept to their first way point where Flag Platoon set up their position while the rest moved on in the formation Suzaku mentioned.

The forest, due to the afternoon sun, is unbearably hot for a healthy person but for Keiji, who has a fever, it is worst. While scanning his area for movement, he can feel the sweat pouring out of every inch of his body. At times he can feel a slight dull throbbing pain from the back of his head. That and the consistent aching all over his body is making concentrating difficult. The other four members of his squad were noticeably concern for his well being. Soujiro in particular gave Keiji an occasional glance to check his condition. And everytime his glance was met with a hand gesture from Keiji signalling that he was okay.

Passing the hill that was on their right, Suzaku became even more restless when none of the scouts report enemy contact. A normal battle would usually have some sort of contact by this point. The type of contact would vary from spotting the enemy to taking fire but any reasonable person would expect some form of contact at this point. His initial worries grew into a storm when passing the halfway point and still nothing has been reported.

'Where the heck are they!? This is TOR High we are talking about! Their order of battle follows an advance of three lines! We would have made contact by now!' Suzaku thought to himself as he grew even more jumpy by every crunch of dry leaves or the snapping of twigs. Just as he was about to use his radio, the sound of a variety of assault weapons going off rang out in a distance in front of him. 'The match is on!'

"Second Platoon contact from the front. Engaging!"

"First Platoon same! Moving up!"

"Command Platoon, moving up to support! No visual of the enemy! Double time boys!" Suzaku ordered his platoon as they move quickly through the forest. He can now hear the vicious return fire from the two platoon in front of him. He can even hear the shouts of excitement from some of the guys clearly at this point through his own ear. "Flank to the right! We will catch them in a crossfire!" Suzaku called out over the team's frequency as he hurried to the front faster than he would usually do. Something does not sound right. Something was off with the sound of gunfire. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but he can feel that something is wrong with this engagement. Something was wrong with it. He must hurry up to the front to see what is it!

"Suppressing fire! Soujiro! Take a squad and the other LMGs from the third squad and start flanking fire on the left! The rest of you give suppressing fire! The flag is just in front of us!" Keiji yelled out over his coms as he let out a burst of automatic fire from his AK-47. "Satoshi! Tell Second Platoon what we are doing and that we will advance when flanking fire is establish! Coor-"

Before Keiji can finished, he was interrupted by no less than five machine gun fire from the left somewhere on the hill. The hill that no one would supposedly use. Almost instantly, the squad Soujiro was leading, no more than twenty metres to the left, was almost wiped out. The only surviving members were him and another LMG user. Before any thought could register in Keiji or anyone around him, a more concentrated amount of gunfire could be heard from the right. That is where Second Platoon is! Is this an ambush? Judging solely by the sound of gunfire, his platoon and Second Platoon would be taking fire from three sides. This is turning into something serious!

"First Platoon return fire to the left!" Keiji called out. Ambush or not he has to keep his platoon fighting. They are the only ones guarding Second Platoon's left at the moment. If they fall back Second Platoon would be endangered. He already heard Satoshi relayed both platoon's predicament to Suzaku. That guy would come up with something. For First Platoon to be useful for that something, Keiji would have the platoon survive until then. But the situation looks grim at this point. One squad has already ceased to exist by this point they are effectively pinned by the opposing team. Things are worst on the right side where Second Platoon is. Half the platoon members are already shot and out of the match and the survivors from the initial twenty gun firing squad of TOR High's first years from their right cannot even move an inch without a hail of gunfire directed at said movement.

"Command Platoon will reinforce Second Platoon. First Platoon hold out until we are done!" Suzaku called out over the team's frequency as he sprinted towards his destination with the rest of his platoon. He knew something was off! There was not enough gunfire from the opposing team! The fact that it didn't occur to him frustrates him to no end. 'And what the hell is up the TOR High? This is not how they normally play!' Suzaku thought to himself as he jumped over a boulder.

However, he will not finish that jump in peace. At the apex of the jump, he felt a shocking pain from the middle of his back. It felt as if an electric shock went through his body firing up all the nerves on his back overloading his brain with too much information. After the initial shock came the fiery burn that felt as if someone had jammed a red hot iron rod onto his back. Before he could formulate a response, he was hit again, and again and again. By the time he hits the ground in agony he had already lost count of how many times he was hit. But he is certain, by the pain and the wet yellow paint trickling down his gear, that he was hit. Grunting as he adjust himself to a more comfortable position, he could see that most of his platoon was also on the ground while the remainder were trying to find the origin of the violent gunfire of five light machine gun and five very accurate assault rifle. Needless to say they were also quickly gunned down. At this time, Suzaku knew why they were so quickly dispatched without any one able to return fire.

'They came from behind! Those cheeky bastards came from behind! They are boxing us into a kill zone!'