Chapter 4. Counter-Strike
I'm a Barbie girl
In a Barbie world
Life is plastic
It's fantastic
You can brush my hair
Undress me everywhere
Imagination
Life is your creation
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Ah ah ah yeah
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Ooh oh ooh oh
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Ah ah ah yeah
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Ooh oh ooh oh
"I can't believe the drill sergeant is making us do this. Of all the song he could sing, it had to be that…" Araki thought in disgust and amazement as he continues on the usual physical exercises that is running around the firing range. 20 laps around, while singing to a cadence the officer appointed during the run. They have been doing this to the first-years for weeks now, though the laps have increased from 10, and now they have to carry stones in their backpacks that should roughly to the weight of the equipment they have to carry, which is about 50 kilograms. Outsiders would think it's insane for high school students to be able to do, but by some miracle, all the recruits manage to carry their own weight plus the stones during the exercises. However, that wasn't what got everyone's face to morph into ridicule and astonishment.
Rather, it was sergeant Onoda's usual Soviet cadence being replaced by this pop song that about Barbie dolls, which he was only familiar with on a surface. "Why the hell? Do we have to sing with him too?" Araki thought again, his mind blinded by this mental flashbang.
That question he asked himself was answered by the sergeant's running ahead of them, his voice remaining powerful even after a lap done. "Come on wussies, do you want to keep those mouths of yours shut or not? Get with the program!"
"Так точно! (Yes sir!)" Everyone responded, though a little reluctance can be deduced from their voices. Even Araki joined along on reflex built over the courses of the month-long training that was drilled into him.
And just like that, all swallowed their pride and sing along. At that moment, they felt like their heart beat as one, as the ridiculous cadence's volume was amplified by the amount of people singing it.
I'm a Barbie girl
In a Barbie world
Life is plastic
It's fantastic
You can brush my hair
Undress me everywhere
Imagination
Life is your creation
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Ah ah ah yeah
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Ooh oh ooh oh
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Ah ah ah yeah
Come on Barbie, let's go party
Ooh oh ooh oh
Once the usual drill of 50 pushups, 60 jumping jacks and 20 laps around the firing range, the first years stop and get their bearings back together, as they would have to pick up their issued weapon. Usually during this time, squads that are already designated after 2 weeks of rookie training split up to different sections of the training ground. Some students go into the wooden house to the east side for close-quarter combat training, locked and loaded with their usual combat gear, with grenades to top it off. Others move to the firing range to practice on weapon handling, with the usual drill. Some other assisting instructors can be seen holding a book of sort, observing the recruits' accuracy with their respective weapons at different ranges, positions and configurations of the rifle, which is usually with or without the 1P78 scope. 2 mags standing, 2 mags crouching and 2 mags prone, that is the usual procedure for evaluation. Other officers standing on the other side of the firing range, with their handheld radio, are responsible for calling hits on the targets.
Right beside it is the shooting range for anti-tank weapons and grenade launchers, with various corpses of decommissioned trucks, jeeps, APCs and IFVs at different range marks. The same set up is also used for this part of the ground, though a secondary observing group is unnecessary due to the visible explosion.
Up to the north of the shooting ground is the vehicle training courses dedicated to the vehicle elements of the school, with a large garage resided to the Northeast. Here, BTR-82As and BMP-3Ms are driven around daily, with some female instructors standing by with their radio likely to communicate to the crew inside. This is also where the odd thumps and crackles in Aomori is mostly located at, though the pile of dirt set up behind the rows of steel targets contain the rounds firing from going anywhere else unintended. It was a place similar to Sensha-do's tank courses, with the only difference being the vehicles themselves.
Speaking of the vehicle courses, the girls are also given the same regimen as the boys, though their criteria for room clearing in the killhouse and accuracy in the range is lowered to compensate for extra effort put onto manning the armored beasts of Krasnaya Zvezda. Still, it can be said that all recruits, even females, know to operate their respective weapons and can fight in a pinch if the conditions ask for it.
Of course, this training ground isn't just reserved for the freshmen of the club. Even the seniors are training their damn hardest so as not to fall behind, but after the admittedly ridiculous cadence the first-years sang running around the firing range, some wears a smile on their face whilst others shake heads in disbelief.
"I can't believe the mad lad did it…"
"That's sergeant Onoda for you. Always the one to lighten the mood up."
"No wonder he was chosen to be this year's main drill sergeant."
"Well, I don't think anyone here likes having a brooding instructor, yes?"
"You got me on that one, friend."
"Hehe…"
The seniors were honestly quite helpful, at least to Araki's account. While the drill sergeants help them with the basics, the other members that they bumped into from time to time teach them some of the more nitty-gritty stuff with their roles, and everyone that is under Araki's command seemed to share his sentiment towards the upperclassmen also. Araki can still recall with great detail about that one time a second-year who was to his right on the shooting range giving him tips on the handling of the AK-74M with the 1P78 attached onto it.
"Hey… You seem to be struggling." The senior commented, and he wasn't entirely wrong. Using a magnified scope differs from iron sights in that there is eye relief for the scope, which is when full viewing angle is achieved with no dark spots on the scope, but he managed to get the hang of it rather quickly. However, the problem here was that Araki couldn't seem to be able to hit the targets from 400m inward, his shots flying over the topmost part of the target. It was so bad, Araki stopped bothering with the optic and instead tried to shoulder fire it, worsening his accuracy beyond 100m.
"Yeah. Don't know why I am not hitting anything at targets 300m or less with the scopes. It's getting really annoying, to be honest." Araki admits, to which the senior nodded.
"Ah, I see. That's the problem, huh…" The upperclassman mumbled, then advised. "Try aiming a bit lower on the 200 and 300 mark."
"Huh?"
"I think sergeant Onoda has already mentioned, but the 1P78 is zeroed at 400m."
"I am aware of that, but… What does that have to do with anything?"
"He didn't mention about the physics of bullet."
"Physics of bullet? What, there's a science to all this? I thought I just have to shoot on the reticles."
"Ah, you're pretty new to this I see. Well, let me explain." The senior cleared his throat, then raised his rifle up, his head turning to the young squad leader. "As you may see, bullets don't just teleport from places to places like in most video games. They have travel time to them."
Araki agreed, noting the delay between him firing and the round hitting the target, though it rapidly became more prominent at longer ranges.
"And since they have travel time to them, they are affected by gravity, as all things do. And so, to compensate for the drop caused by physics doing its thing, you got to aim higher. So in reality, it's more like lobbing a rock." The senior then aimed his rifle and took an accurate shot on the target 400m away. "This is also what zero is. It's basically when the point where your bullets' curvature intersects with your line of sight to the target. So for this optic…" The senior placed down the AK, straightening his left arm and moved his right in a curve as he elaborated. "This would be your position, and this is the zero."
"But then how would I- Ooh…" Araki suddenly realized something and picked up his AK, looking through the optic as he aimed for targets at 200m and 300m. He knew that the topmost chevron is zeroed at 400, and the chevrons below go up in 100m increments. So if he wanted to hit it at 200 and 300, he would have to take the two chevrons below the main one and juxtapose it above the middle reticle in roughly the same increments. And so, with the mechanism of the optic fully figured out, he steadied his breath, made sure to shoulder the lovely rifle properly, and pressed the trigger multiple times. All the rounds finally went to where he wanted, and the shots were called as hits.
As Araki disengaged with the AK-74M, he looked to the senior. "Hey… Thanks for that, by the way."
"No problem, I'm just helping around as per usual. You are quite fast in your ability to apply lessons though, I must admit." The senior talked, as he observed around the training ground, a smile crept up on his face. Araki can't help but to share it too, though he didn't understand why.
This was one of the many instances where he witnessed altruism expressed between the members of the club during his 4 weeks training in this academy. And to that, he honestly can't help but to be happy for all the time he worked his asses off on this sweat laden part of the school. In fact, sometimes he offers a hand here and there, especially in the killhouse where he taught some of the seniors about breaching tactics and advanced close combat theories he learned and applied during his time in middle school playing in Aomori's shoot house.
But, all that thinking can be left for later, as he focuses on hitting the 500m target crouching, to which was proving difficult as Aomori is relative windy today, the windsock on the far North up high in the mountain flowing aggressively from east to west. But he won't let it affect performance today. He shoulders the rifle, aims through the scope and takes a test shot on the target, the lead veering off far to the left. He then adjusts again, and takes 2 more shots, both counting as a hit on the target. Araki continues to shoot while crouched until empty, making sure to hit every shot possible, though that proves to be hard with him not being able to control small twitches from time to time. Still, getting 20 out of 30 at that long of a range is quite impressive regardless. As he is going through the usual reloading procedure, the PA system installed on a pole in the training ground suddenly blares out audio feedback, catching the attention of everyone on the field at that time.
"Attention to all members of the Hohei-do club, please stop your daily regiment and come to the auditorium. All members must be present for the announcement at the assembly hall, as this is important matters. I repeat, all members must be present for the announcement at the assembly hall, as this is important matters."
"Agh, and I'm just halfway done." Araki sighed, placing his mags back to his pouch and walked to the western barracks to return his gear to the school's armory in the western cluster of barracks before making his way to the designated location, with an increasingly large flock of students begin to form at the entrance. Not before long, the training ground becomes completely empty, with only birds occasionally chirping on the sky, breezes of wind whizzing the trees and a small group of people focused at the garage up north doing maintenance on the vehicles.
"Thank you all for arriving according to our request earlier. We are sorry to stop your daily routine, but this is something urgent we wanted to get this out of way with." Alexander bowed again, as the crowd in the assembly hall finally settle down to listen. "If you were keeping track of time, I think you would be aware that the supposed long month of preparations and acclimations for the first-years have already passed. And we already had the result for the finalists that have managed to pass the theoretical stage."
"Wait, they already got that over with?"
"I heard the brass wanted to accelerate the elimination process, so that they will be able to have time getting used to the new commander right before the practice match that would kick off the 18th season of the National Hohei-do Tournament."
"It's not just the brass though. Alexander doesn't look dissatisfied with their decisions, from what I heard."
"You reckoned they finally came down to an agreement?"
"No way."
"It happens once in a blue moon, but that's possible."
"With how the officers kept fighting over the smallest of difference, I am surprised."
"Maybe that debilitating lost last year finally wake them up to how disorganize they are."
Talks are thrown here and there around the auditorium, making Alexander has to flick his finger to the microphone a few times to catch people's attention again. "Ahem."
The room's atmosphere simmers down again, leaving room for the temporary commander to speak up. "As I was saying, we have managed to determine the finalists for the second, and final stage. Please step up to the stand, sergeant Yamamoto Araki and sergeant Nagumo Shousuke."
"Wait, wha- Oh…" Araki was confused for a bit until he remembered when he was let out of the homeroom on behalf of the Student Council to 'take a test', they say. And as established already by the stand-in commander, the test was to play a match of Company of Heroes and achieving victory with the lowest casualty possible. But, they also added that time was also factor if the casualty were tied. Still, Araki simple got on with the test and complete it in roughly 19 minutes. He wasn't aware of the casualties recorded in the game, but he couldn't care less. He just wanted to get it over with to return to class, else he would be missing important matters on the subject he was studying.
And yet, here he is, standing on the stage, looking down to the decently sized crowd on the rows of chairs, he can't help but to crack a snicker, not believing he managed to qualify for the second stage, even if he is very aware of the many nights he spent in the RTS game perfecting his experimental strategy to achieve optimal results. Taking his eyes off to the male officer named Nagumo Shousuke besides him, he can see that he is way more rigid and serious in his posture, like if he was already born to be a commanding presence in the first place. However, none of that matters right now, as Alexander carries on the show with all the members applauding them for making this far. The clapping was very encouraging; he can say so himself.
"So… I think I have mentioned before that these two officers here would be participating in the second stage facing off each other via a Skirmish match. However, I've decided to have changes of plans, of which I have already discussed with senior members of the club. Sergeant Onoda, you can take it from here." Then, Alexander steps down the stage, giving the place to said officer.
"Thank you for giving me a chance, captain Margelov. That goes to all of you who are present in the hall right now. I am grateful to have you hear me out." Then, he clears his throat. "So, as captain Margelov has already mentioned, we won't be organizing a Skirmish match with these two here commanding a sizable force. The reason is that 2 weeks from now, right before the National Drawing, we would be kicking off the season with a practice match with another school, and us third-years want us to remain at peak ready status, which cannot be achieved if we were to organize this match, for the resources we expended cannot be quickly recovered again. Fixing vehicles takes a lot of the school's budget, you see."
That got the auditorium talking again.
"You think he really means it?"
"What? Don't say that you thought those Tigr-Ms were cheap."
"But like, it's just a Skirmish match. Not like we have to repair BTRs and BMPs."
"I think the problem here isn't lack of physical resources, but rather time. A Skirmish can take quite a while if it drags on, and I think they really need results without wasting our time just watching for the whole mandatory elective's allotted time."
"Huh… But what kind of change do you think he will propose?"
"Well, I think right now would be the time to find out."
"So… Instead of the initially planned Skirmish format, I propose for the second stage of selection to be organized today, in the unofficial format that is Defusal."
"Defusal?"
"What the hell is that?"
"Heard it's basically that one FPS game's flagship mode being brought to life, yes?"
"Yes. A pretty popular game I heard, though they gain little here in Japan."
"We just like to play arcade games more, you see."
"True."
"Let me elaborate on it." Sojiro taps the mic. "Basically, it's 10v10. The game mode is similar to Sabotage in the official formats supported by the JHF, but there are only 3 POIs, anyone can plant the C4, and OPFOR only has to successfully sabotage one point. Match will be played until a team wins 16 rounds with each round's time being 5 minutes. Teams will be swapped when 15 rounds are played. Is that clear, sergeants?"
"Так точно. (Yes sir.)" Both first-years standing on the stage agreed.
"Alright. Now, everyone please move out to the training ground again. The barracks to the west have already been set up as the battleground for this testing phase. And for you two, go pick up your squadmates and one of the crewmen. Поняный? (Clear?)" Sojiro looked to the members on stage.
"Понятный, сержант. (Clear, sergeant.)" And then the two young boys move to the barracks to pick up their squadmates and their gear again.
"Ah, this really is just like that infamous game, huh?" Kanata noted, gearing up for the battle to come. "I wonder if any of the typical strategy in it can be applied."
"I don't know. Perhaps rushing B all the damn time could work." Mikhail picked up his favorite weapon of choice again, only for Araki to stop him. "Hey, no RPK this time."
"Huh? Why?" Mikhail turned to him.
"Each player that participate in a Defusal match can only carry these gears." The squad leader then started picking out the gear as he recited verbally. "Primary weapon, which can be assault rifles, battle rifles, personal defense weapons or shotguns."
Hearing upon the word 'shotgun', Kanata's eyes immediately lit up. "Sh-Shotgun?"
"I did not stutter, Kanata."
"Then…" Kanata immediately rummaged through the main armory to find a KS-23M in good conditions, its metallic coating hadn't tapered off by much. "Oh, I've been waiting for you, my love…"
Araki is very surprised to witness upon a very specialized weapon stored here, though given that Krasnaya Zvezda was even able to get their hands onto experimental projects that got out of the initial in-house testing phase, he shouldn't be for this thing is roughly 2 decades old.
"Anyway, next up is your secondary weapons, which are pistols. The way a weapon qualifies as a sidearm is that it has to have no braces or stock, else it's fair game."
"So then a Welrod is all fair game here?" Kyoko interjected.
"I-I guess." He shrugged.
"Also, I have a question, Araki."
"Hm?"
"Why did you choose me as your 10th member of the team? Don't you think a crewman like me can be a detriment?"
"Well you see… You got above average results with your little AK you are holding there and I see you able to breach buildings pretty well despite your role as fire support."
"Aw, thanks… But that does not matter right now! Explain yourself why!"
"I've already given mine, Kyoko."
"You didn't!"
"I did."
"You didn't!
"I did!"
"You didn't"
"I di-"
"Now now, ladies and gentlemen…" Andrey stepped in to block contact between the two, seeing the bickering was about to get way out of control. "Let's stop our little game here and get our heads into the game, alright?"
"Yeah. One more thing though, squad leader…" Moteru also added. "Any plans going into this?"
"Wait wait wait, before we think of anything, shouldn't we know how to defuse a C4 charge first?" Ichiro cut in.
"Yeah, Ichiro has a point. Retake the site all we want, but if not able to defuse it, the thing would explode regardless." Rudolfo noted.
"Ah, right." Araki paused. "How do we defuse a C4 then?"
"Color spectrum rule, my friend. Color spectrum." Ichiro patted Araki's shoulder multiple times. "Just go red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple. Solves all your problem."
"Fuwa! Impressive as always, Ichiro!" Kyoko complimented, her left hand formed into a playful kind of fist, her right still holding on the trusty AKS-74U.
"Ahem!" Araki notified. "Don't forget your utility items too. Smokes and frags are essential, of course, but you should bring this too." Araki then throws to all the members a grenade that has a spiky underbelly to it. "Those are stun grenades. They're way less lethal compared to frags, but they are made to disorient people with the flash and the bang it causes. Basically, this blinds you and makes you deaf. It specializes in room clearing, though it can be somewhat effective in the open."
"Got it." Moteru nodded, putting it onto the utility belt.
"Hehe, so that's why it's called a flashbang…" Hikaru mused over the word.
"Never thought all those years gaming would come down to this." Kanata smirked up.
"U-Uhm… H-Hey, s-squad leader." Kisaragi, finally appearing in front of them at the entrance of the armory, shyly talked.
"Yes, Kisaragi?"
"C-Captain Margelov is c-caling you. It's a-almost time, he said."
"So, what are you waiting for, squad leader?" Kyoko put a hand on Araki's shoulder. "We'll be going on your mark, Araki."
That got Araki to huff through the nose. "Alright." He takes a deep breath and loads the AK-74M on hand with a swift, aggressive rack. "Давай, отряд! (Let's go, squad!)
"Aye aye, squad leader!" All responded with an informal salute and moved out of the barrack.
The day that the second phase of the selection takes place is on the cold side for April, but that doesn't reduce any of the heat the crowd felt observing the match from the eastern side of the training ground that have stands set up in a rather hasty manner. They are very nicely placed though, even if small imperfections exist with how the rows aren't in a straight line. A drone flies far up in the air, getting a bird's eye view on the intense fighting down in the barrack complex.
The score was 7 to 7. Both sides were very equal in both their tactical prowess and their fighting ability in the nightmarish environment that is close-quarter combat. Araki's squad initially went off and stole 4 straight rounds from Nagumo's with their site rushes, but it didn't take long from Nagumo to catch up to the fast tempo, though the BLUFOR squad had to lose another round before they start the comeback. Then, Nagumo's squad start dismantling the OPFOR by simply allocating all members to a bombsite, completely halting the steamroll that Araki was planning to create. Once full commitments for site execution isn't working evident by Nagumo's team being able to effectively push back their high intensity game plan, Araki started to default to probing, splitting up the squad somewhat equally to the 3 POIs before spotting a hole in the defense and rotate the squad to the planned attack point. It achieved limited successes with Nagumo's squad able to secure 7 more rounds, though the teeth grinding effort that Kisaragi, Ichiro and Rudolfo showed even in a 3v7 situation helped them to win the 14th round of the game. This could prove to be the rebound that OPFOR needed to get a small advantage before the side swap.
"Hey hey hey, nap time's over, squad leader." Ichiro picked up Araki and shook him to wake him up.
"Ugh…" Araki groaned as he woke up. "Kami… Those rounds really, and I mean really really fucking hurt. I can already feel the dull ache starting to set in after being pummeled by them."
"Heh, thought you were a tough boy, Araki. Don't act like you were the only one shot here." Ichiro, done pulling the leader up, also mulled over the pain all over his torso.
"I know, I know. Hohei-do is very violent, even compared to Sensha-do. Don't act like I didn't go into this not knowing what I got myself into."
"Then please haul ass back to the starting position, will you? Me, Kisaragi and Rudolfo just carried your sorry asses that got shot here."
"Ichiro, you do realize we win and lose as a team, yeah?"
"Yes, yes. Just feeling feisty, that's all." Ichiro waves his hand. "Don't mind it, I just want to sweep away some of the seriousness we have from the beginning, really."
"Heh…" Araki smirked as he walked, his arms are crossed to carry the rifle.
Arriving at the squad's rally point, Araki can see that all of his squadmates are super battered, scratches and bruises visible on some of their faces, whilst others who wear balaclavas have an obviously wore down posture. They are all definitely tired from the fighting.
"Agh, sergeant Onoda really wasn't kidding with just how much these rounds pack." Kanata sat on the ground, massaging his arms and legs that were aching with the KS-23M placed to his sides.
"Yeah, like… I just ate all that, and I feel that my pain receptors were so overloaded, my body just instantly flopped to the ground before I was even aware." Kyoko also agreed, her AKS-74U being let loose on her right hand.
"You guys had it easy." Mikhail took off the helmet, revealing a bruise on his forehead. "I feel like those fuckers on BLUFOR really were just hunting for my head sometimes. Like, how many times was I headshotted? Was it like-"
"It was 4, Misha. 4. I still surprised how you didn't get a mild concussion yet." Andrey commented. "I swear, if you keep trying to return fire even while you are getting shot at, you're gonna end up at the hospital."
"Being a worrywart as always huh, Andrey?"
"Not until you are going to stop endangering your wellbeing. For now, though…" Andrey paused, then gave Mikhail a mean stare. "Я буду твоей няней. (I'll be your nanny.)"
"Жопа... (Bastard…)"
"You guys really play each other off well, like Veronika and Avdotya." Hikaru snickered, thinking about it."
"Какой бы ни. (Whatever.)" Mikhail rolled his eyes.
"Alright, alright. Playtime's over, everyone. We gotta devise a new plan, else we wouldn't be starting at an advantageous position before the round." Moteru clapped his hand repeatedly. "Any ideas around here?"
"We can rush as before. Better go out with a bang before the swap, да?" Mikhail wiped the side of his nose.
"Or we can keep splitting up as before. It didn't work, but I don't think any other strategy is good right now." Hikaru added.
"Maybe we can have a small decoy unit consisting of 5 acting as if we are planning to take the bombsite early. We can confuse the enemy long enough for the true take to succeed, with the C4 planted without any BLUFOR members having any knowledge. After all, there isn't any notification for bomb being planted, unlike the game, yes?" Kanata also gave his 2 cents.
"We tried it last round, and it didn't work as intended, дурак! Trying to force it again won't work as they would have it figured out by now." Andrey argued.
As the back and forth continues, Araki suddenly throws out an idea for the group to think. "If they weren't convinced, perhaps we didn't give them enough evidence."
"What do you mean, squad leader?" Moteru questioned.
"I'm saying, we go with the previous plan but… we increase the decoy size."
"…Alright." Kyoko nodded. "By how much then?"
"Make it 4." Araki plainly put it, and as expected, all jaws minus his were dropped to the floor.
"Are you insane? How would just 1 dude able to defend the site after planting the C4? Thinking we can make it back to him? That would blow his cover!" Kyoko spoke, flabbergasted at the plan
"Araki, are you trying to throw the match?" Kanata added
"Think you got a screw loose in the head? I can screw it back up if you need to." Ichiro gave him a stink eye, and patted his shoulder.
"Look, look. Let me elaborate." Araki raised his hand up instinctively as the verbal assault continues from other members.
Rudolfo simply gestures to the squad leader, nonverbally saying to let him cook. Oddly enough, that got the squad to stop, likely because of his calm, reassuring demeanor.
After the verbal assault finally stopped, Araki clears his throat and throws the C4 to Kisaragi. "Alright. Kisaragi, you're responsible for the planting. I expect you will be able to assess the situation to act accordingly, correct?"
"Y-Yes, squad leader." Kisaragi saluted, his left hand holding the handguard of the AK.
"For the others…" Araki held out 3 fingers from his left hand and point to the bombsite he planned to breach in. "Ichiro, I need you to act as if you have the C4 in your hand, else they would suspect something is wrong. Is that clear?"
"Loud and clear, sir." Ichiro responded, checking the chamber for any potential stoppages.
"Now…" Araki raised his left hand, first curled into a fist, then opened up, pointing with all 5 fingers. "Пошел, пошел, пошел! (Go, go, go!)"
And just like that, all are all and ready to engage again.
"We're coming close to the designated position, over." Hikaru peeked out to see the commander's barrack now being marked with a blue flag, with Moteru diligently scouting nearby to ensure safety. There are no hostile sightings for him, but that only means they are keeping themselves well-hidden for the expected attack.
"Good copy." Araki whispers to the comms. "How's security around us?"
"Clear. Heard some footsteps from the site. It's not getting louder though. Прием." Mikhail replied, his AK still posted on the support beam of a barrack. Andrey is right to his back, watching his sixes.
"Clear, too. They aren't planning to make a pincer attack again, given their defeat from the last round. Manage to get to their rear without being spotted too, over." Kanata held a close angle from a barrack's door with his boom stick, his trusty partner Hikaru also providing overwatch to the opposite door.
"Rear flank is also clear. No footsteps except for ours. Over." Kyoko called on the comms, while Ichiro was practicing on faking a plant without a C4.
"That's good. Proceed with the plan, over?" Araki ordered.
Kanata replied, unloading a shotgun shell from the chamber. "One more thing, Araki."
"Yes?"
"Once the flashbangs are thrown around, I'll be breaching first, alright?"
"…Okay."
"Don't go before you heard another bang though. I promise, you will be grateful listening to my advice, squad leader."
"I will, Kanata." Araki nodded from the other end. "Anything else?"
"No more, sir."
"Solid. Let's go then." Araki called, and pulled the pin on the flashbang, throwing it into a barrack that has no friendlies in them. Multiple other flashbangs were also thrown in unison, causing the site to temporarily become a firework show. It was so bright and loud, the audience reflexively has to close their eyes and ears.
"Fuck… Any contact yet?"
"Got some flashbangs here, but… still not seeing any movement."
"Reckon it's just another diversion?"
"Heck no."
"Maybe we cou-"
The drumming of footsteps started to become more and more audible.
"Shit. Those are hostiles."
"Just stay put where we are. Don't want to reve-"
Another flashbang can be heard from the barracks. Then, a follow up shot was sounded.
"Hey. Hey! You good? Oi!" The BLUFOR member cried out over the comms. "Блядь, he's gone."
"Haruto, you copy?" Another person spoke from the comm.
"Y-Yes! We got enemy contact here at site C! They're breaching! Need reinforcement!"
"How many?"
"I don't know! Maybe it's all of them or something, judging by the amount of flashbangs they threw." Haruto then puts his finger on the trigger. "Will try to bring down as many as I can. Over!"
The young boy then starts to control his breathing, stabilizing his gun to the nearby doorframe that has the line of sight to the route entering the bombsite. He spots some contact, and fires his gun in semi-auto. With some well-placed shots, he was able to get a guy, though the girl that tailed him quickly returned fire, keeping him in cover. She then makes a mad dash to the nearest defilade, which is the nearby stack of boxes. "Shit, got spotted." He thought, returning fire to the girl. The two exchange fires for some minutes before the girl's AKS-74U was empty. He then peeks out, only to see the girl that should have been fumbling with the reload eliminated. From the opposite barrack, another member of BLUFOR has their AK barrel smoking. Haruto gestures gratitude with a thumbs-up. The guy on the other side spins his left arm, to which Haruto comply, coming to his position, his gun up checking any possible angle of contact. Suddenly, another OPFOR member comes close from behind, trying to sneak up on him. However, the other BLUFOR quickly shoots him down. Just before he was able to say another 'thanks' again, though, it sounded like something was dropped to the ground. And… the barrack he was supposed to rally to is now filled with fragments from a grenade.
"Agh…" Annoyed and also fearful, Haruto tried getting into the barrack he was standing next to, but suddenly he feels a jolt of pain coming from the hip. He flopped to the ground, trying to move his legs, but all he can feel is numbness. He can see a silhouette carrying a shotgun of sort moving towards him. The boy, now lying on the ground, shoulders the AK awkwardly and tries to get a supposed revenge for the shotgunner not pulling the final trigger. But then, another flurry of shots come flying towards him. He curls up instinctively, but then a shot finds its target and hits him square in the chest. Even with no bleeding, he felt like life was quickly coming out of him, as he feels the urge to sleep due to the pain. He fights it, ordering his limbs to flail around. It was no use, however, and not before long, he would belong to one of the lifeless bodies found lying around the barracks.
"That's 3 down. 7 to go." Hikaru mumbled to himself, his hand still steady on the AK-74M.
"How many we have left, Hikaru?" Araki phoned from the headset.
"We lost 3 during the initial breach, squad leader. Kyoko, Rudolfo and Moteru are all down." Kanata replied, loading up the shells for the KS-23M.
"That's good enough for me. Now let's set up for a defense here, alright?"
"Так точно." Both nodded at the same time, as if they were a part of a machine working smoothly together.
"Good. For now, please keep comms clear, I need to hook up to the other side."
Kisaragi, holding his AK so close to his body with finger off the trigger, waits silently for a cue. The multitudes of bangs and crackles coming from site C was promising, but Kisaragi doesn't want to risk him being discovered. The plan would be foiled immediately if he was even seen by a hair's length. So, he waited, and waited, and waited. Many many minutes pass by, and he was about to become very worried of the effectiveness this bold direction Araki had. But, that worry is immediately put to rest as he hears loud, discordant footsteps nearby. He instinctively holds his breath, praying to Kami that he doesn't get find out again, which thankfully he isn't. After letting out a quiet exhale, Kisaragi receives voice of none other than Araki.
"Kisaragi, how copy?"
"G-Good, sir. I-I'm fine. Still h-hidden."
"Nice! Anything else?"
"I-I've got m-multiple contacts m-moving to your position. A-Araki. They j-just got passed me as y-you called."
"Awesome. I'm sure you know what you have to do, correct?"
"Д-Да!" Kisaragi's body tensed up saying.
"Okay. We'll be holding them of as long as possible. And… don't come reinforcing us, yes?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Good. Proud to be in such a good team like you, Kisaragi."
"S-Same."
"Okay then, Araki out."
Once the transmission was cut, Kisaragi quickly head to site A, where there is no personnel left to defend it. He places down the C4 and arms it as he possibly can, before going into another corner to hide himself for the hold.
"You saying they got site C already?"
"Yeah. Didn't hear anything explicit, but judging by the loud bangs and the lack of comms from them, I think they're all gone."
"Shit, they really executing another site rush at this time?"
"Are they stupid or something? Don't they know we can actually counter it to great effect now?"
"Men, stop the chatter please." Sergeant Nagumo voiced out his thoughts. "We are approaching the site now."
"Y-Yes, sir."
"Okay. Remember to pace yourself. In CQB, rushing is the worst you can during these kinds of confrontation."
"Yes, sir."
"So sir… retake as before?"
"Yes, retake as before." Nagumo nodded saying.
The remaining BLUFOR members then split into 3 groups, with the main one pushing straight through while others go for flanks.
"Wonder where these pests are shaking right now."
"Dunno, perhaps it-"
20 consecutive rounds suddenly slammed into one of the guys on the right flank.
"Shoot, contact southeast!"
The battle buddy accompanying the victim quickly returns accurate fire back at the enemy, to which the guy who fired falls down with little resistance. The full-auto spray was very effective and on point. Another one comes up and surprises him, but incidentally or not, the BLUFOR man pulls the trigger and manages to get a piece of lead straight to the head of the OPFOR who only fired 5 rounds. That shot there was simply lucky.
"Contact down!" The BLUFOR man then fires another shot at them in the heads. "Kills confirmed!"
Another flashbang suddenly appears from the air after a shot was fired shortly before.
"Agh, flashbang!"
"Fuck, how many flashbangs do they have anyway!? I thought they only have 1 per person!?"
"The hell do I know!? Maybe they didn't throw all of them!?"
"Conta-" Another quick 2-shot from the northeast of the main breaching was heard.
"Anton team! Anton team! You copy?" Nagumo shouted on the comms in panic. All that responded was the deafening radio silent. "Fuck… Anton team is out."
"We still move in, sir?"
"Keep your pacing! It's not over yet! We need to overwhelm them!" Nagumo ordered with steel in his voice.
"Fuck, Mikhail and Andrey is out."
"Heard you. How many did they lost, Kanata?"
"Roughly 2 to 3, Araki."
"The others might try to join up and then clear us out, Araki."
"Okay, try to flank them then, Hikaru. Kanata, can you load another one of those flashbang rounds you have?"
"Already done, sir!" Kanata loaded another 'Zvezda' round into the KS-23M chamber.
"Solid. Count to 4, then we peek together, Kanata. Is that alright?"
"Will do."
On a count to 4, Araki quickly checks his mag again, which seems to less than half now. He would have to reload soon, but that can be worried later.
"1… 2… 3… 4!"
And both OPFOR members got out of their concealment, and manages to take out two in a crossfire.
"Пустой! (Empty!)" Araki yelled out and reload his AK in a hasty manner. "Перезарядка! (Reloading!)"
That yell, however, was what get Araki revealed, to which a grenade was followed up to the noise. Araki was gone, definitely. That only leaves Kanata in the site itself. Having only one shell left in the barrel with no time to reload, Kanata gulps himself and peeks again, wiping another guy out of the match.
The boy then tries to run away, but his back's pain receptors all of a sudden fired enough. He flops to the ground; his hand desperately grabs the dirt as he tries to crawl away. But atlas, the final BLUFOR member standing – sergeant Nagumo, puts the final onto his torso.
Nagumo sighs, and looks up to the bright blue sky. "Блядь, that was intense… Now onto the C-"
And then, not even in Nagumo's wildest imagination, a flare shoots up to the sky from the far opposite side of the barracks. Someone planted on site A without him even aware of the fact.
"Araki's squad wins. 8 to 7." The PA system announces. "Swapping sides."
Sergeant Nagumo clenches his fist, as he continues looking to the flare. "Хитрожопый... (Smartass…)"
"As the 63rd National High School Sensha-do Tournament approach; many have different speculations on which school would become the champion this year. While Kuromorimine Girls' Academy still stood as the top of top contender, more supports have been given to the upset that happened last year – Pravda High School. Some also have hopes that Saunders or St. Gloriana would achieve victory for a change, but their chances are rather low compared to the two tankery behemonths above. Nonetheless, given the surprise grasp of victory by Pravda last year, we should also expect some terrific performances by other minor schools too." The news reporter said as Yamamoto Kimiko sips her afternoon tea.
"However, one thing is for certain. Every commander from every school, whether major or minor are ready to give it their best shot, something I think we should all commend our youth for. Moving onto other sports, did you know Hohei-do is now reaching its 18th year ever since its infancy in 1995? There has been some news about the JHF and the JSF considering to merge the two sport together to turn it into a new kind of sport. This discussion has been going on for years in both the typical neighborhood of Japan and on the directors' board. If you were not aware, Hohei-do is usually thought to the young, long lost sibling to Sensha-do. First created under the name of 'survival games', Hohei-do has…" Kimiko's mind started to trail off to the far, Eastern European city that is named after a Russian Orthodox saint. "Hah… How long has he been gone? I wonder when he will be back. Maybe we can watch our son participating in Hohei-do together. He would be proud of him, I'm sure."
Suddenly, some lock mechanisms can be heard from the doorway, and within mere moments later, Araki is now in the house. "Hi, mom."
Kimiko turns back to see him, still in his typical Krasnaya Zvezda uniform, but his posture seems a little down compared to usual. "Something happened today, sweetie?"
"Well… It was just an even I participated in at the Hohei-do club, that's all."
"Huh… What was it?"
"They were selecting first-years candidates to be the club's new commander, which is done in two phase: theoretical and practical. I managed to pass the first one, so I am qualified for the second phase. The practical stage was just me playing a Defusal match."
"Huh… Was it like what you did when you were younger?"
"Yes."
Kimiko huffs "Huh, no wonder you looked so battered compared to usual."
"Perhaps…"
"Anyway, what was the result, Araki-chan?" Kimiko asks.
"Uhm… I-I can't believe I am saying this, mom but… with a result of 16 to 10… I am now the commander of Krasnaya Zvezda."
Kimiko's eyes widen at the news, though it is sign of pride. "Araki-chan… congratulations!"
"Th-Thanks, mom…"
"Come on, sweetie. Get yourself a shower and some rest. All those bruises can't be healed without taking some care for yourself, yes?"
"Yes, mom." Araki sighs. "I guess I should be going then."
"I'll call you down when dinner's done, okay?"
"Thanks, mom." And the young boy walks upstairs.
Once the young Yamamoto is gone, Kimiko swiftly comes to the TV's cupboard. Inside there is many DVDs, CDs and images of her husband's time in St. Petersburg, but she ignores all that and keeps digging deeper. It takes a little bit of time but eventually she finds a black and white portrait of a bald man in an officer uniform. His name is Yamamoto Isoroku.
"I can't believe this but… it really is time the Yamamoto lineage gives birth to another talented, yet daring and adventurous commander, isn't it?" Kimiko muttered, silently appreciating the man that she is seeing before him. The moment of reminiscent didn't take long though, and the mother quickly puts it back, deep into the pile of souvenirs mister Yamamoto sent from Russia, to prepare a small, little celebratory dinner for Araki.