Chapter 4: Weapons and Armor

Turning in the direction of the chanted scream of his name were two figures adjacent to the corner of the room who were just a few steps away, waiting for their turn to spar, while in the center were busy men doing their training.

One was approaching him while waving his hands, the other was fixated to her melee weapon before looking at her partner.

"Oh? Captain?" A feminine voice asked the other.

"It's my brother! Captain Nato." The source of the voice comes from his brother, Oliver, pointing at him with a smile.

The female soldier looked over at his extended hand and saw Nato, "Ah! Captain, it's you!" She excitedly spoke as they both started to jog towards him.

Nato however, couldn't help but let himself smile as they closed in on him. "Hey! How are you both doing? Pleasure to meet you again, Ashley." Gazing changeably between Oliver and Ashley as if he's talking to his children.

"We're both doing okay, just waiting for our turn again to spar." Ashley cheerfully replied.

"I see, I see. How's the armor by the way?"

"Well, I can say it's absolutely fantastic to use." Opening her arms and stepping back, showing her very same armor earlier, this time it can be seen better.

"You'll see more of it on that stage over there!" She points at the center towards the occupied men in training.

"All right, I won't bother you guys so I'll go on ahead and check these guys out." Giving them notice of his leave and heading near the stage. Oliver and Ashley nodded in agreement and walked the other path.

To get a better and closer look, he proceeded to go closer to the stage but managed to stay at a safe distance to avoid any accidents or injuries while in training.

On the stage it seems to be a melee fight at the moment, he wonders if he missed some action such as gun fight training that looked more interesting to him, but even if it's different, a glimpse wouldn't hurt to see.

As the battle starts to unfold before his eyes, it becomes obvious to be a 3v6 team battle, the dark blue armor are the humans, the opposing side are red bulky armored humanoid robots.

Both sides clashing on each other in fierce combat as they wield the classic remodeled futuristic swords, spears, daggers and other weapons resonate through the air with the repeated sounds of clashes.

It has been decades since they've used melee weapons but seeing how they made major upgrades, it's not bad to bring them back after all.

The weight of the battle favors the human side, thanks to their incredible teamwork and abilities.

Effortlessly parrying and evading every incoming attack, showing their display of mastered defensive maneuvers as they launch a perfect and calculated counter attack.

"Yuri! Below you!" The man wielding a dagger urgently called out, attempting to draw Yuri's attention to the impending attack from below.

"Oh shit!" Losing his balance, he fell behind his back just in time to avoid the robot's sword in an attempt to swing and cut him.

Upon falling to the ground, he instinctively raised his hands as a last-ditch effort to block incoming spear attack above him. In hopes that it won't pierce through his defense.

Just as the spear reached his hand, on its way to stab through it, stopped by a few inches away from impact, it halted. A glimmering energy shield materializes out of thin air by its touch. Serving as an unseen barrier to keep him away from harm.

This grabbed Nato's attention, his face can tell he is intrigued by what he saw, questionable thoughts going all over his mind. It's mind blowing and unbelievable to see that something like this exists now.

"That reaction will always be gold." Veronica approaches behind him and pats his shoulders, startling Nato again.

"So, we're bringing back the melee weapons now?" He asked, his tone sounded as if he was happy to see it back and with better looks.

"We can't keep relying on firearms too much, especially in a different world. Who knows what kind of enemies we might meet soon." She gives out a good point to his question.

"Can't argue with that…anyways, how did you guys invent that energy shield?"

She looked at him with a playful grin. "You won't even understand it so what's the point?" She says before facing away from him and focuses her attention towards the soldiers.

His guts are telling him that she called him dumb in some way. 'Rude.' he voiced, internally insulted.

"Anyways, they're done, want to know them better?" Looking back to Nato with a stern expression.

Nato waved his hands as a response, gesturing for no. "I can talk to them the day of the operation."

"How about today? The earlier the better." She happily suggested.

"We can wait." He awkwardly smiles, scratching the back of his head. He didn't feel like knowing them just yet when he could meet all of them there anyways.

Veronica turns away and sighs before approaching him, expression serious. "Woah, woah, woah, what're you planning?" Nato raises his hands and steps away, scared of whatever her intention is gonna be.

She outstretched her arm and grabbed his hands, pulling him closer to her and grabbed the collar of his uniform. "A simple introduction would be fine, Nato." She looked up to him as their eyes met.

She's way too close to him, making him feel slightly flustered by the close contact. Why did she have to pull out a move like that?

"This kinda feels romantic." He mumbled, moving his eyes away from her gaze.

"Don't turn this situation around you bastard." Her voice remained stern mixed with an angry tone. She didn't like that comment coming out of his mouth.

He noticed the tone of her voice. "Alright, alright, let's forget about it and lead the way out for me." Moving on to a different topic before things go south between them.

She released him from her grasp and walked first with Nato trailing behind her as they went to meet his new comrades for the coming operation.