Part 5 – Training – Part 2
The day following Mayor Tanuki discovering his daughter would be joining the HERO Brigade in her own town, Naofumi decided now was the time to step up training: the killing house.
Using live ammo inside the killing house was out of the question because he wanted to make sure his team wasn't injured during the training exercises.
The first exercise was a house-clearing training round: go through the house, and clear out everyone that's hostile.
The training weapons: HK MP5s or Colt M4s loaded with rubber bullets.
As Fohl and Alta were clearing one room, Fohl noticed one of the targets was a hostage situation target, and fired.
But, as the sun was in his eyes, his shot was high and off-target.
Naofumi walked out to point at the bullet hole in the wooden frame of the target, "Not good enough, Tiger," he said.
After that, Raphtalia was clearing another room in the house with Sadeena, Sadeena was clearing the room when Raphtalia walked over to the closet before Naofumi walked out, pointing his hand like a gun in her face, "Bang," he said as he and Raphtalia walked back into the room, "Supermodel," Sadeena turned around to see Naofumi, "You're dead."
"That seemed a little unfair," Sadeena said as Fohl and Alta walked into the room.
"That's how it's going to be," Naofumi said, "The ones that commit the kind of crimes we're going to respond to have no respect for the rules, period. Remember that we're mercenaries with badges. We are bound by only one rule: Protect the innocent. This is a game, but when you lose at this game, you don't respawn at the last checkpoint. Which means you have to break the rules you were taught to abide by. Let's reset, and go again!"
The next day…
Raphtalia, Sadeena, Fohl, and Alta were out at target practice when Naofumi walked up to them, "Captain," Raphtalia said as she cleared her weapon, and turned around to look at Naofumi.
"Morning girls and boy," Naofumi said, "It seems we seem to be missing one team member."
"Sir," Raphtalia asked, "I thought we were all you hired?"
"You are," Naofumi said, "But there is one more member of the team that you all have yet to meet," he turned around as they heard the sound of a very large vehicle coming up the road, "And here he is now," what came around the corner was a Lenco BearCat G3 that was painted dark blue, he turned back to the team and motioned them to follow, "Come meet Grizzly."
The team followed Naofumi over to the BearCat, and as it stopped, the door opened, and Chief Erhard stepped out, "Captain," he said as he walked over to Naofumi.
"Chief Erhard," Naofumi said, "Thanks for driving it here."
"Anytime," Erhard said, "That was fun."
"Thanks," Naofumi said, "You don't mind if I have the stage do you?"
"Not at all," Erhard said.
Naofumi walked up to stand in front of the recruits, "Team," he said before pointing over his shoulder, "This is Grizzly, he's a Lenco BearCat G3, specially modified for our needs as a team. Come meet the big bastard."
Four doors, and one large set of swing-open doors at the back, armored glass, a giant side-step, and enormous rubber wheels that could probably take a puncture from getting stabbed with a Ka-bar knife.
"This is seriously cool," Fohl said.
"You know it, Tiger," Naofumi said as he walked to the front, and pounded his fist on the large steel barrier buster on the front, "Specially made Hydraulic RAM designed to knock down barriers," he then walked over to the door Erhard left open, "This bad boy is the real deal," he pounded on the side of the door three times which caused a very hard and solid sounding thump, "The armored plating has been modified, tough enough to stop anything up to a .458 magnum. The window can stop up to a .50AE bullet," he then opened the back door to point at the seats, "The seats were customized with hand-stitched leather, and the entire cabin is completely air-conditioned."
"This thing is fucking awesome," Raphtalia said.
"You're damn right it is," Naofumi said, "This way, please," he led the team around the back, but not before stopping at a small circular port on the side, "First, we have the gun ports," he then tried to rotate them with his hand, but they wouldn't budge, "The ports are hydraulically controlled, only those on the inside can open them. Let's keep moving," he then led the team to the back gate and after he opened the doors, the team saw a small equipment room.
"Sweet," Fohl said.
"Damn straight," Naofumi said as he jumped into the back, despite the headroom being slightly limited, he was still able to move around the back, as he pointed to a black trunk on the left side (his right) of the truck, "Extra clothes will be kept here," he gently tapped on the compartment over the trunk, "Helmets," he moved on to the one just above it, "Gas masks," he then moved onto the closet next to the trunk, "SMGS, rifles, shotguns," he touched the cabinet attached to the bottom right of the closet, "Extra ammo," the one on the bottom left, "Smoke, CS gas, flashbangs, and stingmore grenades."
"Question," Fohl said.
"Go ahead," Naofumi said.
"What kind of weapons will we be carrying," Fohl asked.
"Whatever you want to carry," Naofumi said, "If you want to bring a rapier, go ahead, but you are required to carry one primary weapon and one sidearm."
"Alright," Fohl said.
Naofumi then moved onto the desk on the opposite wall, "Computer that links directly back to HQ, the truck has its own independent Wi-Fi system," he said before pulling out one of the cabinets mounted to the desk the computer was resting on, and lifting up a Beretta GLX160, "Riot launcher," he closed the drawer, opened up the one above, and pulled out four grenades for the launcher, "Raphtalia, you were a weapon master in the military police, can you identify them, from left to right?"
Raphtalia pointed at the one that looked like an oversized shotgun shell, "The red one is a 40mm beanbag round," she said before pointing to the grenade that had a green shell, "The green one is a teargas cartridge," she pointed to the grenade that had a large white ring running around the black shell, "The tuxedo-colored one is a sound-grenade," she finally pointed at the last one, "I don't know what that one is."
"Of course you don't," Naofumi said as he picked the last one up, "This is a specialized piece of engineering that only we as members of the HERO Brigade have access to," the grenade looked like a large metal grenade that had been split into fours, with a drill-bit tip, "Allow me to introduce the AR6S," he pointed at the half-way point on the grenade, "Mounted inside here is a hi-definition camera that links back to the computer," he then pointed to the tip, "This tip is mounted to a cordless motor that can spin at 150 rotations per minute. You hit someone with this you'll put them through the worst pain they've ever experienced in their lives. But this is not meant to be shot at a person. You aim this at a wall, and shoot it, it'll go through the wall, to a point, and will give us a very good vantage point into the room. Intel is of paramount importance in any situation, hostage, or combat."
"Pretty awesome," Fohl said.
"Indeed," Naofumi said as he placed the grenades back in the cabinet, and tapped on the two other cabinets on the opposite side of the desk, "Suppressors, and cleaning supplies," he then pointed to the final cabinet opposite from the weapon cabinet, "Armor, shields, and Kevlar plates. Any questions?"
"We have extra uniforms in there," Sadeena said as she pointed at the uniform trunk, "What happens if we're not on duty, and Grizzly runs out of clothes when the call comes?"
"You'll carry extra equipment with you in your personal cars at all times," Naofumi said, "If you're still in personal clothes when you get to the AO, you'll change in Grizzly."
"What if we're in a delicate situation when the call comes in," Fohl asked.
"You'll tell them to keep cool until you get back," Naofumi said, the group chuckled a little bit before Naofumi retrieved a weapon case, and stepped down, "What do you say we get back to training?"
As they were walking back to the range, Raphtalia noticed the HERO Brigade symbol on the front of the case, "That your weapon," she asked.
"That's a yes," Naofumi said, "My main weapons are stored in this case, and I always keep them in a safe location."
"When do we choose our weapons," Raphtalia asked.
"Very soon," Naofumi said, "First we have to prove ourselves in front of the chief and your father."
"Prove what," Raphtalia asked.
"That I can lead you effectively, and that we can operate well as a team," Naofumi said as the approached the firing line.
As Naofumi opened the case, the first thing he pulled out was his 1911, "Nice," Raphtalia said before pointing at the gun, "May I?"
"Go ahead," Naofumi said.
Raphtalia picked up the pistol, and examined it, "Beveled mag well, extended slide release and safety, custom muzzle-break," she said before aiming downrange, and pulling the trigger, "Five-pound trigger-pull?"
"Six and a half," Naofumi said, "It needs to be light enough to deploy fast, but still strong enough to make sure it doesn't go off if dropped, and so it doesn't double-fire."
"Maybe I should get a piece like this," Raphtalia said.
"Help me prove this team can work with your father, and I'll buy it for you," Naofumi said.
"Deal," Raphtalia said, "What's left?"
"One of the main reasons so many people in Castletown are alive," Naofumi said as he pulled out his MRAD, "Meet Hawkeye."
"Very nice," Raphtalia said as she examined the rifle, the spitfire green color was a nice contrast against the black barrel, magazine, trigger, bolt, and the 'flying tigers' angry shark mouth paint job that stopped a the magazine well, ".338 Lapua?"
"You know it," Naofumi said, "My friend here can knock the bullseye out of a target at a mile and a half."
"You can do that," Raphtalia asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.
"What? You don't believe me," Naofumi asked.
"It just seems a little like an impossible shot," Raphtalia said, "If you can do that, then I want to see it."
"Indeed," Naofumi said as he reached into the case, and pulled out a large scope which he handed to Raphtalia, "Let me show you."
After lowering the bipod, he slid the second scope he pulled out of his case onto the top rail and pulled out a magazine to begin loading it.
"Let's see what you can do, Captain," Raphtalia said as she looked downrange at the target that was the farthest out from the seat.
Naofumi simply took one bullet, placed it into the chamber, and closed the bolt, "You're gonna get a kick out of this," he said.
Naofumi adjusted the scope, steadied his breathing, and as he pulled the trigger, Raphtalia could feel the shockwave from the muzzle as the bullet shot out the end, and punched the bullseye out of the target like he was using a hole-punch.
"Damn," Raphtalia said, "Bang-on-the-money."
"You were saying," Naofumi asked as he opened the bolt, and turned toward Raphtalia.
"I will never doubt you again," Raphtalia said as she handed the scope back to him.
"Good," Naofumi said, "What do you say we get back to target practice?"
"You got it," Raphtalia said as she picked up the MP5 she was training with.
As Raphtalia was shooting with her MP5, Naofumi couldn't help but admire a little: she had a picture-perfect stance that accentuated her curves, her hair and body bouncing with every pull of the trigger, and her shots were always on target. She looked like one of those army pin-up posters that he would hang on the wall of his barrack when he was stationed in Jalalabad, Afghanistan as the CO of the… Forget what I just said…
See you in the next chapter…