Highschool wars: The first battle.

THE DEMON'S FIRST WAR. DAY THREE. WEEK ONE.

The next morning Tyler had regained his strength of mind refreshed as he was from his dreamless slumber tangled up with Yuki as he'd been. They stood on top of the roof of the main hall, facing the long road they had met on. He had his rifle in his hands, Yuki had picked a Kar98K she had found in the Armory. they had decided that they would sleep together before each planned for operation in order to keep their strength up. They had been the first up, so they had spent the time prepping the roof according to Tyler's ideas. They had brought up several thousand rounds of magazines and loose rounds and stashed them around the rooftop. Tyler had also brought up several first aid kits, MRE's from the dinning hall, and a radio for him to play some tunes during the battle. In fact it was during his preparations that Llyia first climbed up. She had her M24 rifle, a pair of X16 pistols, a L86 assault rifle, and a pair of long knives as equipment. She was shocked to see Tyler already up on the roof prepping for the coming battle. He'd set up a small table near the stairs leading back inside the building for them to ready their guns. Upon noticing the Pale girl, he'd waved her over to the table, where he'd taken several measurements with a range finder scope.

"Hey, Llyia, good morning! C'mere I got the distances marked out here for you an d Dani when she gets here."

The quiet sniper came over and They had a picture of the road taken off google earth, he pointed to various objects that were easily Identifiable through a sniper scope.

"Okay, see this tree in front of the main arch? That's 100m with a decline of -30m. The arch itself is 150m with a decline of -28m. This large boulder here, is the marker for 200m..."

He'd marked out all the best indicators for range, making both Llyia's and Dani's jobs a far sight easier when it came to figuring out how far a target was. He also pointed out the various ammo dumps near the overlook of the front of the building. Yuki had made another bullet run, Tyler wanted as much on the roof as possible. Llyia was amazed at his preparations,

"Wow, you sure have been busy Tyler, when did you first get up here."

she had asked in her hauntingly beautiful voice, to which he'd answered,

"about 6, Me 'an Yuki been prepping ever since then. Oh, you haven't met yet, but Yuki's my roommate and a good friend, I'm sure you'll like her."

Llyia had smiled softly, and lowered her gaze, impressed by the rookies foresight. She then perked up with a question.

"I noticed you brought a lot of ammo up here what did you bring?"

"Let's see, 50.cal rounds for Siberia's bite, 7.62 rounds for her dragonov, 45.ACP for my Colt, 45=70 for Fenrir, 9millimete for Yuki's Glock and I think that about covers it. why? You need anything specific? If so I can go get it myself."

Llyia laid her L86 on the table, the large bullpup had a bi-pod on the barrel, a hybrid sniper-3xscope, a drum mag, and a longer barrel, making it nearly longer then her sniper rifle. She then looked at him, and spoke in a small nervous voice,

"My L86 takes 5.56 NATO rounds, so we're going to need lots of them."

Tyler jotted the ammo type on a piece of paper, then started toward the stairs saying as he went,

"5.56 NATO right? Be right back, I should also grab intercoms for us too."

he then took off down the stairs headed for the armory nearby. he passed students going on with their school day as if unaware of the looming battle they probably don't know anything, I think I was lucky to get a heads up at all, these kids have no idea the hell on it's way. he reached the armory, and swiped his ID card. The two-foot thick door swung open to reveal Sherie loading mags for her BAR, her long black hair in it's usual Pigtails, the only thing missing was her usual smile. He walked inside greeting the girl as he did so.

"oh! Mornin Sherie! Fancy meetin you here,"

He cheerfully exclaimed to the busy girl. at the sound of his voice, her worried expression melted into a happy grin at the company of her favorite boy.

"Hey, Tasty! G'mornin! You gettin ready for the battle too?"

"You know it! right how I need L86 drum mags, and 5.56 NATO rounds for Llyia. could also use a set of intercoms for four people, you know where they are in here?"

Sherie smiled, and pointed toward a corner of the Armory, were a rack off L86's were hanging.

"The rounds are over there, the drums over there. If you look there you should see a duffel bag that can carry about ten drums and maybe five thousand rounds. The intercoms are behind me. You said you're with the sniper unit on overwatch right?"

she spoke in her trademark birds chirp as she directed the boy around the Armory. As he filled the bag, he conversed with the friendly girl,

"Yep I got sniper/spotter duty for Dani. Though I think I'll end up helping Llyia as well. what about you?"

"I got front lawn duty, You'll be watching over me and my group like a guardian angel. Ahhhhhh! I'm getting goose bumps at the thought of it!"

"Heh, right idea, wrong creature, I'm a guardian Demon, and don't you forget it. I'll make sure to put the upgrades on my rifle to work covering your hot little ass. I might be tempted to sneak a peek at your handy work so put on a good show for me!"

"Dammit, you went and made me lose focus! I'll give you a show alright, I'll show you my fist, you friggin tease!"

They went back and forth until Tyler went for the comms, little beads, that resembled earbud headphones. as he went for the tools Sherie leapt up and hugged him tightly pressing her face into his chest,

"Thanks for cheering me up. I really needed that."

her voice, which was usually vibrant and full of life had more of a somber tone to it. Tyler patted the girl's brown silky pigtails

"Sure thing Sherie, You always cheer me up, so the least I could do was return the favor, if only the once."

He loaded the comms into the bag, and as he went to leave he rounded on her, and slid a comm into her ear,

"Give a holler if you need a hand okay?"

she blinked at his offer and nodded, a wide smile on her face. Tyler had one more thing to say before returning to the roof

"Hey Sherie, remember. WHEN WE GET THE ENEMIES IN OUR SIGHTS MAY THE GODS HELP THEM,

"FOR NO ONE ELSE CAN!"

They roared their new motto at the tops of their lungs, rallying in the shared strength of the war cry. with that Tyler headed back to the roof.

Dani and Yuki were chatting as Tyler climbed back up. He place his delivery next to Llyia, and started helping her load the drums. he passed out the comms as he did so,

"Here, thought this was a good idea, in case one of us to leave the others sight. I gave one to Sherie too so heads up on that.'

"Hey, good thinkin rookie!"

"yes, thank you"

"It's almost like you've done this before"

Tyler smiled as he finished his first drum mag, and started on his second,

"I'm just running down a checklist I made."

"Ohh? What checklist would that be Private?"

The group turned to see who the voice belonged to, only to see the major standing there, a M14 sniper variant on her back along with her sword. Dani and Llyia both stood to attention and saluted the superior officer. Tyler kept filling drums as he replied,

"Well, Major, it's a list in my head of anything I can possibly think of to make our lives easier up here. Are you gonna be sniping wit us?"

"Indeed i am, the commander asked me to lend my rifle to yours. I understand from all of this up you all were busy. good job tea-"

"it was Tyler ma'am, ha and Yuki were the first ones up here this morning."

"that's correct Ma'am, we did nothing, They were up here since 0600 hours ma'am."

At this news the Major's eye widened in shock,

"Is that so? Tyler, Yuki, well done, Now then Tyler, I want to know everything you have don up here from the beginning. You too Yuki."

"Certainly, care to help us load drums as we talk? we need to fill about five more. After this we'll move to more sniper mags"

"That's splendid idea Tyler, again well done. anything else I should be aware of?"

"I handed intercoms to everyone up here, and one to Sherie on the ground, I'd give you one but I wasn't expecting more people up here."

"excellent judgement young Private! I have a comm already, I'll connect to your network hold on. Testing, testing can you hear me?"

"loud and clear,"

"ma'am"

"ma'am"

"ma'am"

"Your coming in like a bell"

Tyler then brought the Major up to speed on all his preparations, from his distance markers, types of ammo and amounts, the radio, first aid kits, MRE's, and the table for resupply.

"Private? You sure you've never done this before?"

"Yeah pretty sure,"

"Then I fear what kind of monster you will become when you have the actual experience and training behind you."

"I don't follow you."

The Major gestured to his work,

"Look at the things you came up with when you have no clue what to expect. I have seen full-blown commanders with every piece of available intelligence available on an attack three weeks in advance not take as many precautions as you have in the short time this morning. I am constantly impressed by both your foresight, your good sense, and your initiative. You are gonna go far here, Private."

Major Fujimara, then walked over and started loading 50.cal mags alongside Dani. Tyler switched to m24 Mags, Llyia went to work on dragonov mags, and Yuki worked on pistol mags. Tyler didn't need to fill mags for his rifle as it was a slot on the side. The group worked in silence, broken by the clicking of rounds and springs. Tyler the got a message via his ear-born intercom,

"Hey, can you hear me up there? if you can come to the edge"

Sherie's voice was heard over the comms, and the group moved to the edge of the roof, and found her with a group of maybe twenty piling sandbags along the lawn. She had her BAR on her shoulder as she waved up at them. Tyler spoke into the earpiece,

"I see a noisy girl by the lawn, distance 50m, height, maybe 1.5m at best, volum-"

"Shut up! I am not short! and unless you want a second asshole, not another word about volume. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

"hahah, Prick! keep us covered up there!"

"Roger, roger"

"i'mma smack you i swear to god."

"Hey everyone listen up."

The Major had started speaking into her comms, which was then transmitted throughout the entire campus.

"Private Tyler will lead us in our new School motto, Private take it away!"

"Helluva a thing to throw at a guy last minute but whatever Major"

He cleared his throat, opened his comms and spoke in a hard as Iron voice,

"WHEN WE GET THE ENEMY IN OUR SIGHTS, MAY THE GODS HELP THEM, FOR NO ELSE CAN!!!!!"

The school reverberated with his words, then there was a moment of silence before Sherie let out a loud

"URAHHHHHHHHH!"

Soon all the fighters let out that same roar of determination, and the school rang with the sound.

They were getting fired up, until a loud whistling noise was hear from beyond the gate,

"RPG GET DOWN!!"

The rocket propelled grenade exploded in midair cloaking the main road in a large smoke screen, followed by a loud roar of in the distance. Sherie's unit dived into the cover of their sandbags, while a loud siren rang out over the campus. Students ran for their guns and equipment, while terrified first-years just panicked completely. Tyler and his unit loaded their guns and dropped flat, mounting their weapons on bipods and stands. Yuki ran to the resupply table, and began loading more mags hurriedly, as she didn't have a long ranged weapon like Tyler did.

"Major, which school is it?"

Dani calmly asked as she loaded both her dragonov and Siberia's Bite.

"It's Blitzenfirg Military school"

"Them? ohh great, some much for a quickie,"

"Who're they?"

"They are a dictatorship school. They believe that nothing but a victory is important. They fanaticize their students into suicide charges and lightning strike attacks."

"Okay, thanks Llyia, I guess we'll see just how-target sighted, main archway, maybe ten more behind. clear!'

"fire at will! Private, get behind your own scope, we don't need a spotter thanks to you."

"Understood!"

Tyler slid his rifle into his arms. He then looked for Sherie, and found her laying down fields of fire into the road. He could hear the screams of the dying all the way up there. he peered into hi scope and spotted a boy with a shotgun rushing towards Sherie's position, he had a bright white uniform on that had hidden him while in the smoke, but it was stained red as Tyler pulled the trigger. The boy dropped to the ground, and the heard a low whistle through his intercom. He then sighted another boy taking aim at her location from behind a tree, his round blew the top of his head clean off, and his rifle fell and discharged taking a girl this time in the chest and she went down as well.

"Helluva shot there Private! Sweet double kill!"

"Thanks major! Sherie, on your left, by that shed got a group of four, get down."

"Roger!"

She dropped down as the small group opened with light machine gun fire, missing being shredded. Tyler sighted the lead boy's gun rather then him and fired, he hit the boy's mag and caused it to explode, sending the boy to the ground with one arm less weight, and he knocked over two of his comrades over as well.

"Major, Let's clean em up!"

"understood"

Tyler and the Major's rifles made short work of the machine gunners. Tyler scanned the area before giving the all clear to Sherie to continue firing. As she opened back up, a running boy with a vest on charged her position. He was clearly a suicide bomber, but before he could take the shot himself Siberia's bite roared and sent a large 50.cal round at the runner. The boy vanished as his vest went off, leaving a large crater under the main arch.

"I'm here too ya know!"

"Thanks Dani! i love you!'

"Ahh how cute, Dani! I didn't know you were like that! When's the wedding?"

"Bite me!"

"Bite me!"

Tyler laughed at the simultaneous retorts and instead put another would-be tree sniper down for his dirt nap. He had one round left in his rifle and spotted a girl sneaking up on Sherie, She had a similar looking uniform,. but was off in one area, the skirt was just a little bit too long, and Tyler shot the girl through her waist, she went down screaming, and Sherie promptly pooped a pistol in her mouth an pulled the trigger.

"Nice one Tyler! Damn Sneakers! what gave it away?"

Tyler chuckled as he reloaded his rifle,

"The skirt was too long!"

He chambered a round as all the girls laughed at his logic. Tyler searched further up the road, when he spotted a small group of students pointing and leaning towards each other,

"Heads-up, possible enemy command unit spotted, position by large boulder. can either of you reach it?"

Llyia was the one who responded her musical voice sounding sweet over the sounds of battle.

"Roger that, request spotter far long range shots"

"Granted, I'll help you."

Tyler took up the spotter scope and sighted the tall boy with a large star on his chest, given how the other boy's were reacting to his words,

"Target spotted, range 600, tall boy with large star o his chest, possible strike force commander, decline -50, wind +1, correction .5, and clear!'

Her rifle blared to life, and sent the round flying out. Tyler watched as the round smashed into the boy's upper chest, right near his star, dropping him to the ground, the other boys were stunned until the next round dropped another one with a perfect shot in the eye. The rest of them panicked, and started running back down the road, and were easily picked off by Tyler's spotting and Llyia's rifle. Once the command unit was dealt with, Tyler returned to his own sniping. Just in time to see a boy name a RPG at Sherie's foxhole. Tyler fired just ahead of the rocket as the boy fired, hitting the now active head and detonating it right there. The resulting explosion killing the launcher, and three others near him.

"Heh, quad kill!"

He flipped the lever and peered back down the sights to see a boy looking at him with a rifle of his own. Tyler fired, and the boy fired too. Tyler's round hit him in the throat, the boy's round passed his head with a whistle. Tyler then felt something wet on the side of his head, and found he was bleeding from a small grove on his head. he smiled,

"Hey, that's gonna hurt in the mornin!'

"Your hit?!'

"Nah just a graze, I'm good, I got that bastard though.'

"well good, be careful up there."

Tyler smiled at everyone's concern, but he was fine. He continued firing, and noticed a strange pattern among the enemy students attacks

"Hey Major, something's off about this."

"You noticed it too? Then it wasn't my imagination, I thought there patterns were off."

"yeah they seem WAY too calm for a force that lost it's commanders. You think it's a diversion?"

"Possibly, but we can't do anything right now. I can switch comm channels and give a heads up to the commander, but..."

"I'd do it, Major, rather be safe then burying a dead friend."

"Well said, private, give me a minute."

"Understood."

Tyler sighted a would-be sneaker trying to get behind Sherie's line and laid him out flat. He watched as Sherie's fire stopped, and he checked in through his scope to see her changing mags, at that moment a large boy leapt up with a shotgun about to blast the pigtailed girl, only Tyler's shot hit him between the eyes first. He fell backward, aided by his second and third shots,

"Gotchya covered toots!"

"Thanks tyler, I love you too!'

"Oi, don't get to comfortable you too! I'm here too!"

Little Yuki spoke up at this point sending all yo heard into a small laughing fit. She had just finished dropping off a set of extra mags to Llyia then retreated back to the table. Tyler smiled as she came and went. He peered back down sights, to see a large truck bearing down on Sherie's position,

"Dani, Sherie' truck inbound! Watch out!"

Sherie had nowhere to go as fire kept her pinned down, so Dani took aim with Siberia's Bite, and chambered a high-explosive round and took aim. She fired it into the trucks engine compartment, setting it on fire, Tyler's round hitting it's right side tire and sending it careening into a large group of it's own students. Tyler and Dani high fived at the display of teamwork. the truck had crashed into a tree on a small hill. A rather brave boy climbed on it's back and uncovered a 50.cal heavy machine gun. Tyler called it out, and shot the guy off the back of the truck, and sure enough another one tried it.

"Hey Dani, you think you could hit it's ammo with an explosive round?"

The blonde sniper badass, replied by doing just that. She hit it on her first try, setting off the heavy ammo like grounded fireworks. The trucks leaking fuel went up and the whole tuck just exploded, taking a good five or six who were trying to rescue the large gun on back.

"hey, what happens in case of forest fire?"

"There'll be a plane that flies over in a few minutes that'll drop water on it, plus there a rather large sprinkler system in place. The government cares more about the trees then us."

"Makes sense"

Llyia had said the least, preferring to work in silence, taking people done with her beastly rifle skills. she hit one guy trying to climb onto the shed, and ended up kill a girl running behind him as well.

"Nice double Llyia!"

The shy pale beauty, smiled at Tyler's complement. she then continued dropping people as they popped up.

"Hey, any idea how many they sent at us?"

"The report said just under three hundred. It seems they sent their entire freshman class, wit a group of veterans to point them in the right direction."

"Welcome back Major. What's the commander's good word?"

"hehe, it's cucumbers, don't tell her I said that!"

"Not what I meant, but okay, sounds like you and her have some fun every now and then. Anyway did she agree with us on the diversion front."

"yes I do, and Major, get your head out of the gutter for once."

"Ma'am"

"Well, commander welcome to the-Sherie, on you right, looks like they're lining up for an autograph, care to oblige them? Sorry, commander, it's a real party up here."

"I can see, and good call on the comms. Who else is on the line?"

"Dani, Yuki, The Major, Sherie, Myself, and Llyia, and you as well commander-goddamit, Dani second truck incoming! let's see if we can make it go left this time"

They fired at the second truck, only it exploded on impacted from her Explosive shot, and smashed into the grand archway. It wobbled but stayed upright. Tyler put a round into the back of the truck. and Dani followed suit, and it exploded even more fiercely then the other one had.

"I think, that was a truck bomb!"

"I agree, ten bucks says it goes again."

"Agreed, Sherie, brace down there, that truck's still a threat."

"Understood,"

Sure enough the truck exploded again and shook the ground with it's force. The thing actually did a flip backward before coming to a rest blazing merrily behind the arch.

"I owe you ten bucks Dani!, Sherie you good?"

"Yeah fine, shaky but fine. I'm almost out of ammo though, could use a resupply."

The commander dispatched a runner with a ammo resupply.

"Yuki how're we lookin for rounds?"

"we're good, haven't even broken the halfway mark yet."

"Good keep me posted."

"Halfway mark? Care to explain Private?"

"I'll explain Ma'am, the Private's been prepping the roof for this since 600 hours this morning. It's really showing too. He's even went as far as to mark Point's of interest for us to use as distance markers to aid in rapid target acquisition. I was impressed with his thoroughness and foresight."

As the ladies were talking, Tyler spotted a large car moving slowly down the road. he picked up the sniper scope and realized why it was moving slowly,

"Shit, armoured car, twelve o clock low. we need armour piercing power now! Dani, can you do anything?"

The blonde gritted her teeth, and loaded an armour piercing round into her rifle, and took aim at the driver's seat. She fired and a small hole appeared on the sheet metal. There was no response,

"SHIT! Sherie fall back now That things a remote controlled car bomb! Dani! LLYIA, GO FOR THE TIRES!"

Both girls loaded rounds into their rifles and shot at the tires as Sherie and her team fell back to the next set of defenses. Tyler, also put some rounds into the car. As he did so, he brought the rifle up and scanned around the shed, trench, and burning trucks searching for the controller. Sure enough he found the bastard hiding behind one of the burning trucks, keeping an eye on the car's progress. Tyler's eyes narrowed,

"Oh I see you cocksucker."

he took aim for the boy's controller, and fired. The round flew straight through the controller and his sternum. dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Now without a radio signal the carbomb detonated, sending a large cloud of debris in all directions. The vehicle had been a car-sized nail bomb. and when it blew, it sent shrapnel in every direction. Thankfully, at Tyler's first warning Sherie had had her whole team take cover behind a second line of sandbags, thus avoiding the flying death, while Tyler had made everyone get from the edge of the roof until after the sky had stopped falling. Once he'd felt it was safe they returned and continued firing at the few remaining fighters. The car nail bomb had blown right in the middle of the main group of reinforcements, most of whom were now a mere mist on the ground around the blast site. Anyone not lucky to have died instantly from the initial blast was torn apart by the shrapnel inside the car. There was a good ten foot crater were the car had once been, and anything within a 30m radius that had stood taller then the three foot sand bags, were shredded. Tyler scanned the now quiet battlefield.

"Are we clear?"

"Unsure, stay in position, Sherie, just incase they're recollecting their nerves."

"Yes sir"

"Ladies, search for movement, I don't like this. commander, how's it on your end."

"it's quiet, I have the standby forces on high alert, and the rear guards says all is quiet. I agree with you on not liking it though, it seems a little too easy."

"Agreed, commander, Private. Ladies any movement at all?"

"negative ma'am, no signs of life as of yet."

"Negative here too, Ma'am, no movement either."

Tyler used the spotter scope to scan the warzone. The lawn that was once green, was now black with burning grass. The pavement ran with blood of the dead and dying. The archway was wobbling dangerously, there were two burning transport trucks, on either side of the main roadway. Strewn everywhere were hundreds of bodies. They were everywhere, on the ground, in the grass, hanging from the fences, trees, in one piece or many, some were just a mist on the ground. They all stained the ground red with their collective blood pools. a reassuring thing he noticed, was that not a single body from the other school could be found after a certain point. It was like a invisible wall had fallen on a spot, and not a single soul had made it passed. On the same token, Tyler could not find a single body wearing the uniform of their school. Did we fight them off without losing a single man? I mean i doubt it, but still he continued scanning the fields, until the commander came over the schools' PA system.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF SAKAIMIYA ACADEMEY, THE ENEMY HAVE SIGNALED A FULL RETREAT. THEY CAME WITH THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY, BUT ONLY ONE HAD LEFT ALIVE. AND HE A COWARD WHO RAN IN THE FIRST TEN MINUTES! WE ARE VICTORIOUS!!!" Tyler turned his comms off, and rose from his spot on the roof. He looked down to see Sherie's team emerge from the second sandbag line. They were looking up at the roof. Tyler got an idea and turned his comms back on,

"Hey commander, patch me into the PA system, I got an idea."

"Alright, make it good Private."

"EVERYONE LISTEN UP, AND REMEMBER THIS DAY, WE STOOD, WE FOUGHT AND WE WON, ALL THEY GOT BACK WAS SINGLE COWARD, WE SHOWED THEM WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE GET THEM IN OUR SIGHTS:"

Here he paused before speaking again his vice an ironclad roar,

"FOR WHEN WE GET THEM IN OUR SIGHTS MAY THE GODS HELP THEM, FOR NOTHING ELSE CAN!!!!!"

This time the students roared with him, reveling in their victory. Tyler was also laughing, until someone smacked him from behind. he turned to find Yuki grabbing his arm and dragging him to a chair,

"Ouch hey, Yuki, what's wrong where's the fire?"

She then pulled a first aid kit and grabbed some peroxide and bandages,

"Hey, what are those for? I'm not hurt, I'm fine-ouch!"

he then remembered his graze and allowed the girl to tend to him peacefully. as she did so, Dani and Llyia approached him followed closely by the Major.

"well done rookie! I definitely think you've done this before now! "

"Yes, very well done indeed, I am glad to have been a help."

"Congratulations Private! Though given your performance here, i see a promotion in the near future! very well done!"

"thanks, are any of you injured? That car bomb was gnarly"

They assured him they were not. Dani and Llyia were looking at him with newfound respect, while the Major's one eye was beaming proudly. Tyler smiled and winced as Yuki tightened the bandage. She seemed okay has well, but her hands were shaking pretty badly. After she realized him and he could move. He turned to face her, and saw how deathly pale she was. he immediately rushed to hold her,

"Hey Yuki! Relax, it's over! Dani, Llyia, Major help she's about to pass out!"

The three ladies sprang into action laying the girl on the ground. Tyler looked on helplessly, but trusting in the more experienced trio.

"what do I do?"

"Go check on Sherie, we'll take care of her. She's just shellshocked, Go help Sherie out, and we'll take her to your room."

"Okay, Major, but can you or Dani or Llyia sit with her after Please? I don't want her to be alone/"

"Don't worry about her I'll take care of her myself, and the commander will probably check in herself, since you are this battle's hero." Tyler gave her a look that said 'HUH' But she waved him off.

"Be off with you now, you have your orders. Dani, Llyia go with him. Find Sherie and aid in the recovery efforts."

Tyler sighed and decided to leave the now unconscious Yuki in the Major's competent hands. He shouldered his rifle and headed down to the entryway. As soon as he, Dani, and Llyia reached the ground floor they were assailed with loud cheers from Sherie's team.

"Hail! the hawk squad!"

"Hey look, it's Hawk himself!"

"hey that's bombshell Dani!"

"And that's Snow angel llyia!

"they were the one's on the roof? We wouldn't be here without them on overwatch today, I hope you know that."

"Hey' it's Hawk!"

The remarks were pouring in, showering Tyler, Dani, and Llyia in congratulations and admiration. When'd the hell did I become kinda celebrity around here? Tyler pushed the thoughts out of his head as he hailed a guy bearing a double-V on his shoulder,

"Hey Sarge, You seen Sherie?"

"Ahh, yeah, last I saw her she was by the second sandbag line directing the cleanup."

"Thanks"

Tyler and the ladies headed off in the direction the sergeant had pointed in. Along the way they passed other students who had participated in the battle. Some had bandages around various body parts, others were scrunched up in a ball rocking back and forth at the hellscape they had witnessed. Most of the freshman were simply staring blankly at the wall, ceiling, or some other object with a dead-eyed look in their eyes.

"Heh, guess the first-years baptism by fire was quite the shock for them."

"yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we have another spike of suicides."

"well, if they go out like that, I can't pity them. This is our world now, they can either adapt or die."

Dani and Llyia both sighed at Tyler's harsh words, they knew he was right, but didn't have the heart to say them in earshot of the traumatized freshman. The walls were dotted with a new set of holes, making the once sleek marble walls look like honeycomb. The white was also covered in dirt, blood, dust, and soot from the explosions and dying. Tyler stepped through the entranceway and took a good first look at the results of his very first battle. The once flat and smooth green lawn was now pock marked with countless holes and craters. The green replaced with brown, black, and red. As he looked around, all he could see were body parts strewn everywhere, an arm here, a leg over there, a girl blown clean in half with her torso by a burning truck and her legs on either side of the lawn. He even spotted a guy's head had somehow managed to impale itself on a rod jutting from the ground, the lad's expression of surprise frozen forever. Tyler could also quite clearly hear the moans, groans, and screams of wounded students throughout the area. welcome to war kid. Pretty ain't it? A pair of medics were carrying a stretcher by at that moment and Tyler recognized the boy with the star on his chest he'd ID'd as a potential force commander. His face was uncovered, and it was twisted in pain and shock. He sighed, and adjusted the rifle on his back. He was about to continue his search for his friend when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Dani and Llyia each had a steading hand on his shoulder, he cocked his head in confusion.

"It's okay. We understand."

"Yeah, this is hard to take in all at once, don't be afraid to freak out. We got you."

Tyler was genuinely confused, all he felt was a great calm. He wasn't shaking, he wasn't feeling overwhelmed, he just felt....calm

"Aww, What are you talking about? I'm not on the verge of freaking out. I feel fine."

Llyia just reached up and stroked his cheek, and when she pulled her hand back it was slick with tears. Tyler hadn't even noticed he was crying. In truth he DID feel calm, as tranquil as a still pond. But apparently his heart was in a different place. Dani and Llyia had looks of concern on their pretty faces at the sight of Tyler's unnoticed tears.

"Wait, I'm crying, for real? How odd, I don't feel sad, or anything. I just feel calm. As calm as I did before all hell broke loose. Weird."

He wiped his face and no more tears came forth. Llyia and Dani just exchanged looks, before nodding.

"Tyler, we'll both be spending the night in your room with Yuki."

"I'm sorry, Dani butta could ya run that one by me again? I think I heard something else."

"We do not want you alone tonight, Tyler, so we will spend the night in your apartment with you and Yuki."

Tyler stopped dead, and faced the girls, both shocked and confused. He had said he was fine, and how these two drop dead gorgeous girls were basically inviting themselves over for the night. Well, that's a first usually girls fight reach to get AWAY from sleeping in the same room, but hey, if it means getting two of the hottest girls in school to sleep in our apartment, the what the hell! Tyler faced the concerned pair.

"well, okay, I think. I have to check wit Yuki when she wakes up if it's fine. It's not just my apartment."

The two girls breathed a sigh of relief at his acceptance. The pale skinned beauty Llyia smiled quietly, while the busty Russian Dani was more vocal,

"Oh hell yeah!, Party at your place! I'm glad that was easy, I thought you would fight us for sure!"

Tyler grinned over his shoulder at the hot blonde,

"Oh my dear Dani, let me ask you: What straight guy in their right mind would possibly refuse the chance to share a room with two drop dead gorgeous girls such as yourselves? I mean come on!"

Dani laughed uproariously, while Llyia just blushed shyly and gazed at her feet as she walked. Tyler and his friends reached the second sandbag line which was a frenzy of activity as the school's medic corps were scurrying around looking for dead and wounded. Tyler turned and looked back up to the roof were they'd been raining death from. It was a good 150 feet above their heads. He turned back to see a pigtailed girl dragging the blasted hulk of a 50.cal machinegun along the ground. Her skin, which was usually a very pretty olive from both her genes and tanning, was so covered in blood and dirt the color was unrecognizable. Her custom uniform, a light jacket and thin tights, were torn to hell, and her boots were caked with blood and viscera from walking on the dead. Tyler still knew her though.

"Hey Sherie! Over here!"

The boob-addict dropped her loot, and spun around and rushed over to fling herself at the boy who had protected her so well during the fight.

"Yayyy! Tasty's here!"

He dodged out of her dive, laughed at her hurt expression,

"I'll give you a hug, only AFTER you take a bath! You look like you took a swim in a dirty slaughterhouse's blood catcher!"

"Ahhh, boo!"

All three of them started laughing at the irritated girl's expression. Sherie's glared at them for a moment, then she too started laughing as well. It made for a strange sight, four teenagers, one boy three beautiful girls, all carrying guns and ammo, standing in the middle of a blood soaked war-torn battlefield, laughing as if they had just been told a hilarious joke. Tyler got his mirth under control, and relayed why they were there.

"Anyway, Sherie, commander Milo wants us to assist with cleanup. so where do you want us?"

Sherie smiled,

"Tyler, I want you to help me carry that fifty back to my bunker with me, Dani, go help with recovery, and Llyia? Assist the medic corps with the wounded. Alright?"

"Sure thing."

"Yes Ma'am,"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Dani and Llyia went to their tasks, while Tyler grabbed the husk of the fifty lifted it onto his free shoulder. He began carrying it in the direction of her bunker.

"Damn, I thought this thing was a lot heavier! Oh, by the way Sherie, why'd you want this thing? It's barely a receiver and half a barrel?"

"Well, It might not look like much right now, But I can fix it! After We'll either sell it or mount it somewhere. So how's Yuki doing? I saw she wasn't with you like usual."

The pigtailed girl was skipping along beside the taller boy, her smooth legs visible through the tears in her tights. Her voice was full of concern for the petite girl that had become her bestie.

"Well, she wasn't injured or hit. After the battle she just went numb. Major Fujimara said she was shellshocked, and took her to our Apartment. She sitting with her now."

"Wow, the Major herself is tending to her? Been awhile since I heard that! She normally only looks after the commander. You two must have really impressed her up there for the kind of honor!"

Tyler shifted the weight of the gun husk digging into his shoulder. He had no idea the major was such a renowned medic.

"Really? Never thought she had such a healing touch. She was up on the roof with us, so I know she's a deadeye, pun included, and I also get the feeling she may be a bit of a pervert. I also get the idea she and the commander are involved to some degree."

Sherie giggled at the rookie's words.

"Ohh, they're involved alright! They've been lovers for years now! It's kind of an open secret really."

Tyler snickered as a few pieces clicked,

"Ph really, well now I think they're into some rather kinky stuff, if their flirting over the intercoms was anything to go by, ya know wat I mean?"

"Oh, they most certainly are! I was on the comms line too ya know! Some nights, I've heard it said that when the major pays a visit to the commander's quarters, she ends up screaming for the rest of the night! They can be soooo cute!"

Tyler smiled at their antics. He found he liked the Major quite a bit after fighting together like they did. If the commander could be so open in her relationship with the Major, and so laid back that her subordinates could gossip freely about her and the Major's sex life she couldn't be all bad. But he did still have one question,

"Soo, Sherie."

"Humm? what's up?"

"Did the Major REALLY lose an eye, or is that eyepatch for show?"

Sherie threw her head back laughing. Tyler just continued walking with the cackling boob-addict. Finally she regained her composure.

"That eyepatch is for the commander! I've heard The Major can see through it. But once when she had to get eye surgery for something she'd had to where an eyepatch for a month. The story goes that she commander had said she looked like a Major badass with it on. So after she recovered she went and got one as an accessory. Just to make the commander smile. Isn't that adorable?"

"it sure is, I'm actually a little jealous of them."

Tyler had a sad smile on his facer as he said this. The still skipping Sherie noticed it and was curious.

"Why do you look sad like that? Why are you jealous?"

She was a little concerned for her Tasty-friend, as she had never seen him saddened yet.

"Well I'm jealous they can love like that. That they have someone that precious to them. I gave up on the idea of love, and being loved, a long time ago. So seeing other sharing something I lost hope for years ago sometimes makes me sad. I'm still happy for them though."

Sherie stopped skipping, and just walked beside the boy with the fifty on his shoulder. They walked in silence until they reached her bunker. Tyler carried the wrecked gun over to Shire's work bench. he then laid it on a raised rack for her to work on it. He then turned to see Sherie stripping out of her war-soaked clothes. He turned back around, as he didn't think they were having one of their flirting bouts.

"Oh, sorry Sherie. I'm gonna head back and help out Dani and Llyia. I'll see ya later."

He was halfway up the stairs when he felt a tug on his leg, he turned to see a naked Sherie looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Say you'll keep visiting?"

"Absolutely."

"And one other thing."

"Okay what is it?"

"Well, it's just this place is a place for new beginnings! Whatever hopes, dreams, and aspirations you had got left behind when you stepped through the arch. You can reclaim hopes that you long gave up on! So just try okay? You might find a nice surprise if you do!"

Her small body was quivering with an unfamiliar energy and emotion, and her eyes were sparkling. Tyler was impressed someone could look beautiful caked as she was in the aftermath of a hard-fought battle. The now flustered teen then remembered that she was buckass naked on top of it all.

"Thanks for the sentiment, Sherie. I mean it. But ta... you really need a bath. AAAANnnnd you have nice nipples."

She squeaked in embarrassment at this turn of events, her face flooding with a deep shade of red as heat raced through her.

"TYLER, you are a pervert!"

"HA, Well, I thought you should know, bout the nipple thing that is!"

"GET OUT!!!"

She chased him out of her bunker, her breasts flopping around as she did so, as he just laughed at the whole thing. She slammed her door in his face with a loud bang and locked it. Tyler was still chuckling as he headed back to the cleanup site. As he walked he thought over what Sherie had told him. It's true this place is a new beginning for those thrown away by the ones supposed to care about them the most. even though they have to fight for it. All things considered, this isn't so bad given the alternatives. If this place didn't exist, everyone here would be still getting abused, or they would rot in group homes, detention centers, foster homes, orphanages, or worse. At least here they can forge a new family. Here they have a chance to matter to someone who truly understands their pain, not just pretends to. Everything they need to succeed here is the will to do so, and hard work. All their success comes from their own two hands, and people will care about their successes. Here we have a chance, here we matter to people like us, here we have HOPE. Maybe I should try...but I still think being loved is a little far-fetched. I think I could love people here. That would be enough for me.

Tyler returned to the lawn, and found Dani struggling to carry a load of severed arms over to a pile of other body parts.

"Hey! Need a hand?"

":Oh ha ha, smartass get over here and help me!"

"Yeah, looks like quite the a-"

"Shut up"

"Shutting up!"

Together the industrious pair delivered the armful of arms to the pile, which by this point was about four feet tall at this point. They then went and assisted the medic corps with collecting bodies, which they loaded onto a wooden pallet and wrapped up before a forklift took the palletized corpses away.

"Hey what happens to the dead here anyway? and the dropped guns?"

"Well, the guns that are still in working order are repaired, cleaned and either resold or reissued to our own forces. If you see a gun you want feel free to claim it as your own, just be sure one of our gunsmiths gives it a look over in case of either sabotage or damage. The bodies of the fallen however are a different matter. If a student dies at their own school then they're buried on the campus grounds naturally. If a student dies at another school, however, the bodies are collected like we've been doing and are either sold back to the school they came from, after the cause of death was hidden or disguised, or they're transported to medical labs for experiments it their school refuses to pay for them. If they go the medical lab route, the school receives a set price per head. It's actually more profitable to try to resell to bodies back to their school of origin then the medical lab, but it does happen."

"What about prisoners?"

"Each school is different. Our policy is to detain them and sell them back to their school, if they don't take them back, we sell them to a school that will buy them. Prisoners are a form of currency here, so we treat them well. But at other schools, for example Saint Aguste's Blood Monastery, they execute the prisoners for being non-believers. At Wolfskrig Boys academy, they use the prisoners as targets for their students, and then there's the ones that allow the students to do whatever they want to the Prisoners. They basically become their toys to play with as they will. If one of ours get captured we try to buy them back, but if you get caught by a darker school, we'll lay it all on the line to rescue you before they do anything to you. we'd expect the same if we got captured."

Tyler sighed, It was more less what he'd expected. Moral of the story: DON'T GET CAUGHT.

"Did we take any prisoners this time around?"

"Actually, yes, we took around ten prisoners. From their story, it seems that Milo's theory of Blitzen sending in barely trained first years supported with a few veterans along was true."

"It's a hell of a strategy, send in rookies to their first real fight, the ones who either panic or are idiots die, and the survivors are now combat tested. It's a sound trick, if a little wasteful. How much did they have to torture them to get that information?"

"Not at all. They offered the information in exchange for fair treatment and quick transport back to their school. Blizen might be a dictatorship school, but they fight with honor and always come for their own. I wouldn't be surprised if an envoy from their school showed up at some point tomorrow."

"How many did we lose this time?"

"Amazingly we didn't lose a person. They send in three hundred first-years and fifty veterans, and all we got was about a hundred or so gunshot wounds that are nonlife threatening. And from what I heard, counting the ten prisoners and the one who turned tail and ran, they'll only get eleven students back Eleven, out of three hundred and fifty. That quite a thing isn't it?"

"It certainly is. from my understanding from the papers, we have at least 48 hours until the next attack right?"

"Yep, though our next defense shouldn't be until maybe this Friday? This was a rather large attack, so we'll get our recovery time. Plus we weren't the only ones fighting today. every school involved in our struggles either attacked or defended. So their probably still fighting or recovering and gauging everyone's strength. But once that 48 hours is up, we could get attack at any time, day or night so be aware of that."

"Yes your breastiness!"

"Prick! c'mere!"

She chucked a small piece of scrap at him which he deftly dodged chuckling. They had moved from body-collection to scrap collection. The shards of metal were to be sold to foundries and melted down fo more guns and bullets for the war effort. Tyler was lifting a large piece of sheet metal from the remote-control car nailbomb, when he found a long barrel sticking out from under some more debris. Curious he pulled on the barrel and uncovered a WWII MI Garand. His eyes lit up like lights at the lucky find. He tossed the sheet metal aside and hefted the iconic battle rifle. Dani heard the metal hit the ground and went to check on him, only to find him holding the rifle with an ecstatic look on his face.

"Hey, Dani look what I found! I think I'm gonna keep it!"

"Really? Sherie's gonna love working on it. The MI Garand was her favorite gun from that era."

Tyler looked at the sweaty blonde. He made a decision on what to do wit the rifle.

"Really? Does she have one?"

"She did, but it was destroyed during an attack. from what I understand, she hasn't been able to find another one."

"Well, she can have this one then. I don't really need it, and I know it'll make her happy."

Dani started a little at this generosity, then she smiled fondly at the thought of when he would give her the rifle. Afterall, Sherie may be a boob-addicted spaz, but she was like a overly energetic little sister for most people at the base.

"Why, I think that's a lovely idea. we're nearly done here. why don't you go give it to her? I'm sure you'll make her day with it."

"Sure, catch ya later Dani!"

Tyler took off with the gift for Sherie in his arms. The rifle was scorched pretty badly, and the receiver and trigger were smashed, and there was a large crack along the wooden furniture, but Tyler didn't believe with her skill level she couldn't fix it. He ran off, attracting more calls of 'hawk'. What the hell kinda nickname is Hawk? Seriously He smiled though that he had reached some kinds celebrity status. he was moving through a side hallway when he passed a group of first years huddled around a tree. They seemed deep in conversation, oblivious to his passing. Now curious, he went over to see what was up.

"Hey guy's what's the circle jerk for?"

They jumped, and moved, showing a passed out Shiro under the tree. Come to think of it, Tyler couldn't recall seeing her on the battlefield, which was odd as her bright-blue hair should've stuck out like a sore thumb. As he approached the small gathering of about ten first-years and noticed that the unconscious Shiro's skirt had been pulled up and her red panties were around her ankles. Tyler swapped the busted MI Garand for his MKII, and chamber a round as he activated his intercom,

"This Private Tyler, requesting Medic to my location immediately, possible rape has taken place. Send medical personnel at once. Girl is Shiro Sujimara, First year. Location, clearing F6, ten other First Years on scene as well, holding for questioning, over."

He did not have to wait for a response.

"Acknowledged, Commander Milo enroute with Medics and MPS. Please hold the scene, Private. Any further details?"

"Not as yet, But her roommate is Leo Gilfreed and I don't see him here. Also side note, can you keep the Major with Yuki commander? I got a bad feeling about this."

"Granted private, Fuji, stay with her until further orders, and remain at combat readiness."

"Yes, Ma'am"

Tyler held the now trembling first-years at gunpoint as the commander arrived on the scene, flanked with a pair of medics and about twenty Red suited campus police. Commander Milo had a look of barely caged rage as she beheld the former firecracker in such a state. As she arrived with reinforcements, Tyler lowered his rifle, and began searching the immediate area. Shiro was sitting with her back against the tree, which was in the center of a large open area. Tyler looked at how open the whole area was. I don't like this, if she was attacked during the battle that would be one thing, but the battle ended four hours ago. People have been moving in and out of here constantly....Wait what's with those weird sleeve length's on those first years...OH SHIT

He then swung the rifle and reaimed at the gathered first years,

"Commander, get over here! It's a trap!"

He'd fired at the imposters as he roared at the imposters, and shouted into his intercom as well. The caught sneakers pulled knives and tried to attack the commander, but Tyler dropped seven of them in quick succession before dropping his empty rifle an switching to his Colt. The commander had pulled her own handgun, a 44. revolver with a golden barrel. There were only three of the intruders but Tyler dropped them all, before the Commander could even get her gun up. Tyler then pulled an extra mag out of his pocket and gripped it in his teeth as he stood in front of the commander.

"I knew something wasn't right here! Alright nobody else move, Commander, can you call for a uniform inspection. I don't think these are it."

Milo had a shocked look on her face at how close she had just come to death, and only Tyler's razor intuition and bizarre attention to detail had saved her life. Her brown eyes were wide with shock and anger at be taken nearly unawares. She regained her edge quickly though.

"At once Private. It seems I owe you a debt. although I must ask, how did you know they were fakes, and if I remember correctly, you also did something similar up on the roof when you shot that imposter sneaking up on Sherie."

"Well, I thought how odd the whole scene was, all the markings on the tree, ground and her skin seem fresh. If it happened during the battle, they should've been more faded. Plus the length's of their sleeves seemed off to me. The same with the girl's skirt as she was sneaking up on Sherie. I wasn't entirely sure until they pulled knives. It's funny, but if they'd just acted confused, instead of trying for the kill, I think I'd have let it go. so you owe your life to my own sense of paranoia."

She shook her head at the explanation as some of the more experienced students arrived and began cleanup. Thankfully, Shiro had not been touched in any capacity, merely knocked out and posed for a scene of rape. Her roommate was later found assisting with cleanup efforts. He'd dropped what he was doing and sprinted for the infirmary when he'd been told what happened. The students were then searched, and uniforms inspected. Tyler had headed on his way after being certain the commander was safe. He headed for Sherie's bunker, a little faster then he was before. He arrived at the moss-covered steel door and pushed the buzzer. There was a buzz and a click as the door unlocked and it swung open. he headed back inside to her workshop. As he'd expected he found the bundle of joy hard at work on her new 50.cal machinegun. She was digging around the inside of the battered receiver, tossing damaged parts into bins and pans. She was wearing a pair of workmen's goggles that made her seem somehow cuter. She stopped working when he walked over to her bench. Her cheery face now covered in grim from working on the weapon, and not the blood and dirt of the battlefield. She was also wearing her usual front open jacket and was barefoot. She squealed happily at his second visit of the day. She ran over and flung herself into a flying hug, which he accepted this time, and he even swung the excited girl around lifting her up off her feet as he did so.

"Yayyy! Tasty! You came Back!!"

Her chirpy voice had extra chirp then usual. Her voice then took a more teasing tone once he'd put her down.

"Ya know, two visits in one day? IF you're not careful I might think you like me!'

"And if I do, would that be such a terrible thing?"

She giggled, and snuggled against his chest again.

"Ohh, I dunno, It'd have to happen for me to know for sure. But who knows, Maybe I'd end up liking you back."

"Now that would be fun. I know I'd like it very much. Almost as much as..."

Here he leaned into her ear,

"Almost as much as I like you!"

He whispered into the hopeless flirt's ear, guessing so much heat to rush to her head, that he could feel it a good foot away. Her face went a cute shade of red and she started stamping her feet in a little happy dance. She had effectively blown a fuse. Tyler just laughed at the flustered girl. After a minute or two, Sherie regained some of her senses.

"W-w-w-ell, I'm Glad you like me. I like you too. So why'd you come back? Did you need something?"

Her voice was quivering, and her cheeks were still flushed with heat. Tyler took the damaged Garand off his back and held it out crosswise across his hands like a sword to the girl.

"I heard you liked MI Garands I found this, its in bad shape, but I figured you could fix it. Here you can have it."

Sherie went through about ten different expressions in the span of five seconds. Happy, excited, aroused, happy, then she settled on simply being touched by his thoughtfulness. She took the badly damaged rifle and cradled it against her softball breasts.

"Thank you, so much. The M1 Garand is my all-time favorite weapon. The one i had saved my life, so i was heartbroken when it was destroyed beyond my skills to repair it. I'll get this back in action and I'll think of you every time I shoot it."

Tyler smiled at the happy girl.

"well, I'm glad I could make you happy. And it's probably not a good idea to think of me when firing a gun. I don't want to be responsible for an accident. But as long as it's not loaded I'd be honored to be thought of every time you used it."

Sherie smiled and blushed as she understood what he meant, but didn't chase him out this time. She simply laid the rifle next to the machinegun she'd been working on. Then she just hugged him again, this time with all her heart.

"Thank you"

"No problem. hey we're having a slumber party at my apartment tonight. Wanna come?"

She looked into his eyes at the words,

"HUH?"

"Yeah, well, Dani, and Llyia said they don't want me alone tonight for some odd reason. So thy invited themselves over. So I figured I'd invite you, since we're friends too, ya know? If you want a reason why, I think you's have to ask them. I still don't know myself, but am just going with it."

Sherie smiled even wider, happy to be included.

"Sure, I'll get the details from them after! Thanks again. Oh, and what was that commotion over the intercom before you got here?"

Tyler explained the attempt on the commander's life. Sherie was concerned when she heard what had happened to Shiro, but was visibly relieved at the end.

"oh wow, I guess the commander owes you big time, huh?"

"Yeah, but not really as I did what I would do for any of us. I wonder what school the came from."

"I'll bet you a back rub, that she's already figured that out by now. Milo's sharper then a razor, and about twice as dangerous when she's angry!"

"You got that right Sherie! She's a force of nature!"

The Major had come to pay a visit. She was wearing her trademark white jacket and pants, her black hair in it's ponytail. She also had hey katana on her hip.

"do you mean in or out of bed?"

"Both!"

The Major started laughing with the dirty minded Sherie. Tyler, however had other concerns on his mind,

"Hey major, Is Yuki-

"She's safe. The commander's with her right now, along with first sergeant Maria. I must say I like what you did with the apartment."

Tyler breathed a sigh of relief his friend wasn't helpless. He then turned to other matters.

"I take it you heard."

"I did, and that's why I came here."

She then did something that caught both Tyler and Sherie by complete surprise. She took her sheathed katana off her hip, got down on her hands and knees and laid the weapon at Tyler's stunned feet before pressing her head to the floor.

"thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for protecting Milo. She means everything to me. I am in your debt. WE are in your debt. If there is anything either of us can do for you, please ask."

Her voice, which was usually as strong as iron and as firm as stone, now trembled and quivered with barely contained emotion. Tyler was uncomfortable with this change in the Major he'd fought on the roof with hours earlier. He was quick to react. He picked the katana up off the floor and held the honorable weapon out to the Major.

"Take your blade, Major. It does not belong on the floor. Put it back on your hip, and keep it there. I respect your feelings but I do not want to ever she you grovel, to me or anyone ever again. In thanks or not. Understood? Now stand."

His voice was harsher then he'd meant but the sight of the stronger then Steel Major groveling angered him in a way he couldn't fully explain. The Major was looking shocked at his seemingly cruel response, until she saw his eyes. Then she smiled as she understood.

"Very well, I shall stand. And I owe you a sincere apology. I just could not think of a way to adequately show you my gratitude for protecting Milo. I still feel like i have not. So I will do this: If you ever need a favor for anything at all, I am at your disposal."

She had regained her stance, and took back her blade from Tyler's shaking hand. As she placed it back on her hip, Sheri pounced on the Major, and started fondling her own decently sized cleavage. The Major jumped and started squirming under this unforeseen attack.

"HeY! Sherie get off, That's an order! Hey! don't touch! These boobs are NOT yours! They're the commanders!"

Tyler just laughed at the Major wilting under Sherie's enthusiastic hands.

"awww, Major you're so selfish! How could you not share such a lovely pair of boobies with me?"

Tyler could've watched the quarreling pair for hours, but something was bothering him.

"Hey, Major, I was wondering. Those students who were pretending to be from our school, is that allowed? and what school were they from?"

The Major finally managed to shake the Leech-like Sherie off her poor chest. Tenderly rubbing her now sore chest, Fujimara sighed as she took a on a box near her workbench.

"Well, it is allowed for students from one school to dress as ones from another. The only rule for doing so, is there has to be a fatal flaw in the uniform that a student at our school who if observant enough can notice. For example the slightly longer skirt that girl had when she tried to sneak up on Sherie, or the sleeves of the boys uniform being too long. Those are small things, but if you're alert, then it's like a neon arrow pointing at you. It's a trick reserved for battlefield infiltration. As for what school they're from, it's not Blizen, they don't like tricks like that. Which is why we rather like that school. Despite it being a dictatorship, that is. We don't currently know yet. But we'll find out soon. and when we do...we'll have the enemy in our sights and you know what's next?"

Tyler and Sherie both replied

"WHEN WE GET THE ENEMY IN OUR SIGHTS, MAY THE GODS HELP THEM, FOR NOTHING ELSE CAN!"

All three friends started laughing. They then got a message over the intercom.

"Hey Tyler Yuki's awake and asking for you."

"Okay commander, On my way."

"Hey! I'm coming too!"

"So am I"

Together the trio returned to Tyler and Yuki's apartment, and found Dani, Llyia, Milo, and Maria waiting for them. Llyia seemed exhausted, her silver hair still damp from washing. Dani also looked like she just got out of the shower. Her long blonde hair hung in thick ropes. Both Dani and Llyia were wearing sweatpants and loose t-shirts. As he entered he spotted Maria near his bunk. The timid first sergeant was in a tank top and jeans, with a concerned look in her eyes. Milo had hung her commander's jacket on the back or Tyler and Yuki's loveseat. she had on a women's wifebeater and her long brown hair hung below her back. Tyler walked over to his bunk, and saw Yuki swaddled in blankets. Only her face was visible. She smiled as Tyler leaned into her little cave. Yuki had always seemed small, but seeing her like this, only made her seem that much smaller and more fragile. Tyler had a sizeable lump in his throat as he quietly spoke to the poor girl.

"Hey, Carrot, how ya feeling?"

"I'm okay now. really tired, but okay."

Her voice a mere squeak. She seemed more like a large doll then a person. Tyler let a large breath of relief out. He had been worried for his dear little partner. As he leaned back everyone else came and offered their own words.

"Hey, welcome back, glad you're okay!"

"I am very happy to see you awake, Yuki."

"Are you sure you're okay? Don't over do it!"

"welcome back Little Yuki! I'm glad your feeling better."

"Yes welcome back"

Yuki was smiling up at everyone's concern, happy that they all cared so much for her.

"Thank you everyone! really!"

She was still clearly exhausted, so Tyler tugged her further under the blankets.

"Hey, Yuki, get some rest. We'll all be here tonight, so you can relax, okay?"

"Okay, no funny business, I'm looking at you Sherie!"

Sherie balked at being singled out, while the others chuckled. Within seconds, the small girl was snoring softly, sound asleep. Tyler was visibly relieved his friend was gonna be okay. He then got up and starting making some food in the kitchen.

"Thanks everyone. I'll make dinner, it won't be anything fancy or special, but it's the least I could do."

The girls just chuckled quietly. Tyler made a simple meal of spaghetti, meatballs, and two boxes of garlic bread.

"Sorry, Yuki's the only decent cook around here. This the max my skills can come up with."

The girls giggled among themselves.

"wow, this just doesn't mix!"

I know. I never pictured Tyler cooking at all!"

"he's fearless in battle but is intimidated at the prospect of cooking for a bunch of beautiful girls? heh go figure."

"I know right? And they're the same girls he flirts with pretty heavily and consistently too."

"Nice to know he DOES weaknesses. I was beginning to think he was too perfect."

"yeah same here."

Tyler just sighed as he kept the servings coming. After they had slowed down, he finally started eating while listening to The Commander and the Major discuss the battle. Sherie had climbed into bed with Yuki and was sound asleep, cuddling the smaller girl, Dani was doing pushups in the corner, Llyia had discovered his anime collection and was currently sifting for something to watch, and Marie was laying out sleeping bags for the girls staying over. Tyler finished his meal and was doing the dishes when Fujimara and Milo called him to join their discussion.

"So, Private Tyler what did you make of your first battle?"

"Well, I thought it wasn't too bad. I also got the feeling that something didn't feel right about the whole thing though."

"Yes, I sensed it as well. Something was definitely off, but I couldn't put my finger on it."

"I trust your instincts, Fuji, and your as well Tyler, you've proven beyond a shadow of a doubt just how sharp you are with that assassination attempt. They most likely snuck in during the attack."

"How is Shiro doing by the way?"

"She's fine Tyler, no harm to her or her body. She went a little hysterical when she was told the 'particulars' of how she was found. But she seemed extremely grateful when we told her it was you who saved her. From her story, the boys knocked her out from behind while she was on her way to visit the medical ward. She didn't even see their faces. When I told her there were no one who attacked her survived, she was both relieved and happy. I want you to visit her tomorrow, Tyler I think it would mean a lot to her if you did."

"Sure, I was planning on it anyway. I'm glad both of you were not hurt. Are these types of infiltrations common?"

"During the first thirty days of the new year, yes. Since people are still getting to know each other, It's easier for them to get in. But afterwards they all but stop. since by that point everyone knows what to look for."

"Will Blizen get a new freshman class to replace the one we destroyed?

"In about six months time yes. we will as well. That time is the semi-annual refill. Then the Sneaker barrage picks back up, and the battles increase."

"Hey, question: will we have to deal with tanks, and aircraft?"

"No tanks and no aircraft, But we will have to deal with plenty of vehicles, like those trucks, and that carbomb today. Tyler, I want you to remember something."

"Alright, what?"

"We do not have any cars or other vehicles on campus, all we have are forklifts, and they stay under lock and key until the battle aftermath. So If you ever see a car anywhere on campus, sound the alarm for it's a carbomb. Understood?"

"Completely."

"The only aircraft your likely to see are RC drones flying around, if you see one call it in, it's either our own drone or an enemy recon team. Speaking of recon, we had a bunch of drones recording the battle. Here take a look."

Fuji pulled a laptop decorated in pictures of her and Milo together in everything from combat fatigues to bikinis.

"How cute, a couple's laptop!'

"Shut up" whack!

"Thank you Fuji"

Tyler now with lump on head looked on as the battlefield's footage started play, from the first RPG to the blowing of the carbomb. Rewatching the footage Tyler noticed something rather disturbing about the enemies' tactics.

"They have none"

"What was that, speak up Private."

"Sorry, I just noticed they have no tactics. Look it's just a bunch of kids with guns doing whatever. See here? This is the four machine gunners that had a bead on Sherie's position that me and The Maj-"

"You can call me Fuji, Tyler."

"And call me Milo, please. You've earned that much."

"Thank you ladies. Look Before me and Fuji dropped them, they had the perfect opening to blow a hole in our defensive line, especially if the RPG 'er over here had fired before they fired. If that'd happened, we'd have lost Sherie, half her fire team, and the first sandbag line all at once. They had no plan, no strategy, no direction other then straight into our guns. Even their Commander unit seemed to have no clue. They were standing in an open part of the road, as if begging for us to shoot them. You get what I mean? Or am I just looking too much into it?"

Fuji and Milo looked from the footage to each other and back

"So that's it! I knew something was off. The entire attack was a probing attack from a school pretending to be Blizen. I thought that car bomb trick was familiar. Milo It's Dublinic's School for Scots. They love using weaponry from the IRA."

"Thar does seem like them, but what about the suicide vest? Les I'm mistaken that's a Taliban trick. And the Arabian Sea Academy's trademark. Plus the infiltration, which is a trick from the Paris Lights school."

"And the mounted trucks were a trick from the Afirka School for boys."

"umm, could it be they formed an alliance?"

The room got deathly quiet, as the implications of that many schools teaming up was just plain scary. finally Milo broke the silence.

"It's possible they have. if that's the case, that would explain why all those first years had so little direction, and why there were so many of them. I'll look into it tomorrow."

"Hey, Milo, I'd also check out Blizen's status as well."

"Why Private?"

"Because I just thought of something. Okay, lets say the alliance exists, and they attacked us. I remember you saying it was blizen Maj-Fuji-sorry habits. You said it was blizen, what made you think that?"

Fuji leaned back on her stool, as she answered,

"Their uniforms, Blizen uses a white uniform to better display the splash of red from a death."

"Okay, and all the students were wearing white uniforms, thus solidifying in our minds that it was Blizen, right? Now lets say that this alliance had approached Blizen and demanded it join. Blizen then refused. The alliance now has a problem, for a school has defied them and spat into their faces. What are they do to? I don't know what their endgame is. But I have a hunch. This alliance has two options: One is to directly attack them and crush them with weight of numbers. the second..."

"Is to attack others disguised as them and have everyone else go after them for them! And since no would really think to question it, they'd launch counterattacks while the puppet master sit and watch. Brilliant."

"It is indeed. Though it's kinda scary how you can come up with such a complex theory on the spot like that, Tyler. You keep telling us you have never done anything like this before, yet you keep pulling this shit. Seriously where the hell did you come from?"

"America"

"That only covers your gun skills, not your brains."

"Hey, before we forget, what's your hunch as to why the alliance formed?"

"Well, it could be a simple power grab. Some jackass wants to dictate how the battles turn out, like an outside entity bets on some school's victory or defeat, and this idiot offers to rig the outcome and make bank from the deal. Or he wants to unite us under one banner and use the students to launch an attack on the outside world to take revenge for how it treated us. I can see that one getting support from the other schools just on words alone. That one seems the most promising actually. Oh and speaking of bets and wagers, here Dani,"

Tyler got up and handed the exercising blonde ten bucks

"I owed you from the roof."

"Awww thanks!"

He returned to the waiting officers.

"the last theory is the jackass wants to stop the fighting entirely, and just turn our school district into a separate entity altogether. Moron can even use pretty promises to get the other schools onboard, too. Other then the revenge idea this is the most plausible and the most likely to garner support from the other schools."

"Wow, Fuji, this guy's mind is terrifying."

"I know, two minutes after discovering the falsehood attack he has three fully formed and researchable theories, the reasons for each, hell even how they could achieve their goals. I'll look into all of these possibilities. That said, Tyler there's another matter we need to discuss."

"What's that?"

Milo's eyes were sparkling,

"well, you and your friends newfound fame as the Hawk Squad of course. Your actions during the battle have gain you quite the little following, especially among the first and second years. You seemed like a guardian angel for most of them. So I'd like to give you a promotion to sergeant, and give you the right to choose your own squad. With you at the helm, you'll report directly to me and me alone. You have proven your ability to remain calm during battle, and you've proven your ability in actual combat. So what to you think?"

Tyler leaned against a nearby wall as he considered her proposal.

"I'd get to choose whoever I want?"

"Yes of course"

"How many can I pick?"

"as many as you think you can handle."

"Okay then I'll accept your offer. can I pick my team now?"

"certainly do you know who you want?"

"I do, I want: Major Fujimara, Yuki, Llyia, Sherie, Dani, and Maria, plus I'd like a direct comms line with you as well, and if you'd accept, you as a backup squad member. Is this acceptable? I may increase the numbers further down the line if I find a promising recruit. And I pick the squad name. Sound fair?"

Milo and Fuji's eyes lit up like Christmas lights at his picks. The Major and Commander both looked into each other's eyes and nodded. Milo was the one who spoke for the room.

"Those terms are accepted, First Sargent Tyler. Now what is the name of your squad?

" warwolves."

"Why is that?"

"Because you can't escape a pack on the hunt."

"well said, Who's the second in command?"

"Fuji, if that's okay with you, Major?"

"It is"

"That's a fine choice, she can use her experience to aid your command. Who's in charge of supplies?"

"I want Maria and Yuki to work together on it, Yuki's not a frontline fighter, plus I think she's far too gentle to actually kill someone so she can manage our supplies and the first sergeant can both support her and protect her. Dani, Myself, Fuji, and Llyia are our main sniper's/shooters, and Sherie's our team gunsmith and support gunner/moral booster. I can move around based on needs as well. The only thing I think we need now is a decent medic. I'll keep an eye out for one. for the time being we'll share the task. Now is the anything else ai should know about?"

"Yes, since you're a squad leader, you get a pay increase, and your own squadron quarters where you can live together if you choose to. If you want I can have them rework this room so you can all live here comfortably. Let me know if you want that. You also get a free weapon order with your promotion. plus an extra weapon with forming a squad, so you can order two new weapons for yourself Tyler. You also get squad budget for things like ammo, upgrades, food, medical supplies, and anything your squad could need. Plus since your under my direct command I'll outfit you with custom comms that will connect you to me and Fuji's special network granting 24 hour access to myself and our intel. You also gain the right to launch sorties, with my approval against other schools as you see fit. These can serve any purpose from just letting off some steam, to softening an attack target, to probing for weaknesses. So choose wisely. Any questions?"

"Um yeah, I'd like to place an order for a new rifle, please."

"Already? well alright let me get my tablet. So what're you looking for this time?"

"SCAR-H please, with black stock, gold trigger, silver mags, black receiver as well."

"Good choice, so I take it you want the 7.62 caliber version, correct?"

"Yep. I need something with rapid fire, so I can switch my battlefield position around if I need to."

"Good foresight, I'll throw in three attachments and a free upgrade for saving my life, even if it does a piss poor job of repaying you."

"Thank you. As for attachments I'd like a hybrid 3x/red dot sight, foregrip, and a hybrid 8x/red dot sniper scope. For my other weapon I'd like a M24 sniper rifle. My MKII is great, but I need more range."

"Okay, Oh your copying Llyia's style eh? You like her gun that much?"

"Her guns are lovely, and I've caught myself admiring them from time to time."

Llyia blushed as she heard him complement her 'guns'. She tried to squeeze lower into the loveseat in embarrassment. Fuji and Milo chuckled quietly,

"Wow, it takes some balls to complement a girl's guns in the same room as her, and when surrounded by other girls too, and the one getting the complement not even part of the conversation! You either got a death wish or just wanna get smacked."

"Bit of both. I'd like my M24 to have silver furniture, gold trigger, black barrel, and our motto engraved along the barrel."

"Okay, what do you what upgraded?"

"I'll let Sherie decide, since she's the expert."

"Wise choice. I'm amazed you trust her with your weapon so readily,"

"Well she handled my weapon pretty damn well last time, so I figure there's no better place for it then in her capable hands!"

"Okay that was damn smooth. Too bad she's asleep right now, else she'd be red as a friggin stop sign right now."

"Oh, she's awake, she has been since I named her for my squad. Yuki Too, she's been listening for longer."

"eep!"

"Told ya!"

The whispers were clearly heard with a little squeak of shock from the bunk bed. Tyler went over and found Sherie beat red, and Yuki smiling tiredly at the embarrassed girl trying to hide inside her.

"I'm sorry if I woke you Yuki."

He said as he sat on the side of the bed. Sherie far to flustered to respond in any capacity.

"And I'm sorry that boob-addict crawled in beside you. I can remove her if you'd like"

"No she's fine. She's actually very warm and fun to snuggle with. I am glad to be a part of your squad, Tyler. Thanks for choosing me."

Tyler smiled and leaned in over her and pecked the still weak girl on her head,

"I couldn't think of anyone I trust more to be with me. Now try to go back to sleep, I want you up and running again like you used to, okay?"

Her silver eyes were glowing with happiness and pride,

"Okay, I will good night Tyler>"

Her voice trailed off as she went back to sleep.

"Good Night Yuki. Sherie Take good care of her okay?"

"You can count on me boss!"

Sherie also fell back asleep, her arms wrapped firmly around Yuki's small waist.

Tyler got back up to a collective "AAaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwww!" From the gathered ladies, who were fairly glowing over his display of such tenderness and affection for his small roommate.

"What?"

"He doesn't even blush the slightest when teased on his tenderness. That's rare!"

"And did you see how gentle he was? My heart melted!"

"I want a hug!"

"Me too!"

"I'm a little jealous that Yuki gets to live with him!"

Tyler just shook his head at the gushing girls.

"Alright I'm done for the night. Where am I sleeping again? Yuki commandeered my bunk, and I can't fit in hers."

Llyia pointed to a sleeping bag near the back of the loveseat. The Major and Commander also spoke up.

"Yes, It's quite late. I think I'll turn in as well."

"I'll join you Milo"

Tyler then felt it necessary to warn the girls of a particular fact of sleeping in the shame room as him.

"Aw, guys I forgot to mention, but there something you should about sleeping here. It's hard to explain, so I'll just show you."

The ladies had grinned when he'd started talking, but their faces went from humor to plain outright shock as he took off his shirt. Exposing his hundreds and hundreds of scars. The silvery lines crisscrossing his entire torso, starting on his neck and disappearing into his pants. As he changed into his sweatpants exposing even more on his legs the ladies were horrified. All were simply blown away by the sheer suffering he'd endured before coming to the school. The only one not overly shocked was Llyia. The Pale Skinned Beauty got up and walked to stand in front of the Shirtless Tyler. She traced a finger across one particularly long scar and Tyler recalled what gave it to him and when,

"That's from an angry grizzly my Sister baited into attacking me. Only reason it didn't kill me was because a zookeeper happened to be nearby with his tranq rifle. The angry teddy got me with a glancing blow though."

The sheer fact he'd just cracked a joke about his pain made more then a few things click into place for everyone present. Sherie was even among that number for as soon as he'd started removing clothes, she'd come too to see the goods. She could now be heard quietly sobbing into Yuki's arms as the newly awakened girl had overheard everything and now comforted the poor girl.

"I always wondered how you were able to do the things you do and how come you make it look so easy. I just wish it was a different answer."

Fuji and Milo just hugged each other tightly at the sight of his horrific past, finding comfort and solace in each other's arms. Dani hugged Maria for the same reason. Llyia just stood there with a hand on his chest. Then she undid the draw strings on her own gown and it fell to the floor. Revealing a beautiful pale skinned body, easily c-cup breasts, a flat stomach, slender well muscled legs, and long silver hair. But as Tyler Looked at her beauty, he noticed the same web of lines as was on his own. They were not as numerous, but they were just as evident. Her soft breasts were clear of any scars, and there was a disconcerting lack around her bikini line, but those and her face and neck were the only untouched areas of her body. Everywhere else was scored with lines, her butt cheeks were also spared but she was still marked by a similar pain. Tyler just hugged the kindred spirit. She hugged him back, the markings of their pasts touching, as if they were sharing the story of their pasts, the story and the burden, with that simple act. which in a way they were. For only one who has suffered a similar fate could truly understand the pain of another sufferer. Tyler and Llyia embraced for a while longer, before they both crawled into the same back. Not wanting to be apart after the moment of silent understanding, acceptance, and support. The other ladies also doubled up, as the pain of the two scarred students was the stuff of nightmares, and the presence of another would aid in staffing of the dark images. As they were going to sleep Tyler whispered in to Llyia's ear,

"I still think you'd look wonderful in a bikini. You're still beautiful, remember that."

No one else had heard the just-above a whisper sound. Only Llyia knew what he'd said. And she looked him in the eyes slightly blushing as she snuggled against the only other person on the entire campus who fully understood her pain. he'd also been the only person to fully accept her after seeing her true self, and still call her beautiful. He wrapped her in his arms and they fell into a contented dreamless slumber.