Marksman Tales
Chapter 1 – ”New recruits”
Sergeant Vic Johansen walked through the doors of his apartment building and was just about to enter the elevator when he heard someone calling for him outside.
“Vic! Hey, Vic!”
The voice belonged to Adrian Macmillan, a tactical instructor and an old friend.
“Ah, hello Macmillan,” Vic responded with a faint smile, “you seem to be in a hurry.”
“Nah, it’s just that I don’t want to take the stairs all the way up,” he said while panting from the running.
“Oh? Even the hardworking Macmillan is too lazy to take the stairs? That’s a surprise.”
“Shut it. I’ve had a rough day because of the B-rank exams.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Vic said smiling, “it’s time for that again isn’t it?”
“You bet. The recruits this time around were horrible; I don’t understand how they could get C-rank.”
“Come on, it can’t have been that bad? Surely someone caught your interest.”
Macmillan thought for a moment, “Yeah…now that I think about it, there were two girls who had something going on, but they failed in the end.”
“Got time to tell me about it?” Vic asked, “I don’t have anything to do for the next hour or so.”
“Sure, if it’s that interesting. Let’s talk in your apartment.”
They entered the elevator in unison and began moving upwards.
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At the apartment, Macmillan occupied the sofa as he always did and Vic sat down in his favorite armchair.
“So,” Vic began while adjusting the chair, “what happened out there?”
“From the start? Well, Captain Takamachi, Sergeant Major Rein and I had finished preparing the test when they suddenly told me to observe from a distance and not to be seen. Why, I don’t know, but I did as I was told and settled down in a building about hundred meters away.
Within a couple of minutes, the recruits arrived on the other side of the test. Since I still had sound and view, I heard them introduce themselves as Private Subaru Nakajima and Private Teana Lanster. I’m guessing the one with blue hair was Nakajima, and the other one Lanster.”
At the sound of their names, Vic straightened up. He had heard those names before, but where and when?
“Is something wrong?” Macmillan asked.
“No, nothing. Please continue.”
Macmillan sighed and began talking again, “Well, as I was saying, they introduced themselves and then we started the test. It looked good from the beginning; they struck the targets perfectly and never got hit themselves.
It wasn’t until Lanster got ahead of herself and started dodging a lot of targets when she got hurt. I think she sprained her ankle or something because she was halting afterwards. A little fight ensued between the two, don’t know why, but that quickly subsided and they continued.”
At this point Vic was leaning forward towards Macmillan, listening intently as he spoke.
“Now, here is where everything got interesting; you know that big sniper bot they use at the end where most of them fail? Well, using a mix of Lanster’s ability to duplicate herself and with the use of Nakajima’s speed, they managed to fool the sniper bot, get behind it and take it out. It was a very interesting tactic, but highly dangerous. One small miscalculation and they could have been seriously injured.
Anyway, they were running out of time and decided to finish quickly, so they would pass on time. Unfortunately, they were moving too fast and had no way of stopping without some kind of accident. Luckily for them, Captain Takamachi stopped them with some kind of net before hitting the wall. That was the end of the test.”
Vic settled back in his armchair and closed his eyes, “And how did they do?”
“I asked Captain Takamachi about that afterwards, she said she was going to fail them. I didn’t quite understand at the moment, mainly because I didn’t see any major problems with the tactics. ‘They took big risks and didn’t think enough before doing it. They got too serious,’ she simply said.
I tried to argue but it was no use. She did however say she would let them redo the test within the next two days, so I guess she saw something special in them.”
“Yeah,” Vic said with a faint smile, opening his eyes again, “and I know why.”
“Huh? You do?” Macmillan asked with a surprised look.
“First; Private Subaru Nakajima. Do you remember the Mid-childa Coastal Airport fire 4 years ago?”
“Yeah, vaguely,” Macmillan answered, confused.
“In that fire, Nakajima was rescued by none other than Captain Takamachi. By coincidence, Investigator Harlaown managed to rescue her sister, Ginga Nakajima. At least that’s what I heard over the radio.
I guess the Captain saw the survival instinct of the little girl and that’s why she feels Nakajima’s special.”
Macmillan was now sitting up straight, watching Vic closely, “But what about Private Lanster? What makes her so special?”
“According to the records she had a family but lost them all, except her brother, when she was little. Her brother became her guardian and took care of her during the years that followed. Unfortunately, he died in battle some time later, leaving Lanster all alone.
In this case, Private Lanster has goals and a strong will to become what she wants to be and that’s what makes her stand out.”
“Considering the circumstances, they seem to be good kids,” Macmillan said, “I hope they pass the next test.”
“I’m sure they will,” Vic said with a smile, “because I want to meet them.”
“Let’s hope on that then,” said Macmillan and headed for the door, “Well, I’m off. I’ve got a lot of reports to write, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, good night.”
Vic shut his eyes, as the front door closed. He began wondering what would happen to the two girls, when his communicator suddenly chimed. He pressed a button and the one seeking him appeared on a screen right next to him. To his surprise it was his superior.
“Good evening Investigator Harlaown,” he said softly.
“Hello Sergeant. Sorry to disturb you at this late hour but I have something urgent to discuss with you. Come by my office first thing in the morning and we’ll talk about it,” she answered in a calm but suspicious voice.
“Anything special I should know about?” Vic wondered.
“No, just look your best,” she said and closed the connection.
“’Look your best? What did she mean by that?” Vic said to himself while he prepared to sleep.
He shut off the lights and went to bed. Outside, the sound of waves still played and the moon rose over the horizon, marking the end of another day.