#The tools were starting to lag and the program froze for a couple of seconds before starting to work again and it was a whole mess so

[gatoplaga]

"But beyond all my pain, there was you"

Narilamb designs: @runningwithscizzorz

here's an alt version of Narinder without the veil!! :D

[r6shippingdelivery]

This had been collecting dust in my Google docs for a week, and I finally decided to just post it and stop podering what I should do with it. Some silliness coming right up (Gen, humour hopefully, 2.2k) ! No ships, no smut, just random shenanigans 😂

With an ever expanding roster of operators, training had become harder and harder to coordinate. No amount of planning and rotation was enough to keep all operators on top of their game, or knowing how to work with any possible team. That was the reason Harry turned to less conventional methods of training. Nothing would be able to totally supplant conventional training, which honed both teamwork and reflexes, but virtual reality seemed perfect to try new strategies before applying them in real life.

The reactions to the new training method had ranged from Dokkaebi and Mute’s interest, to Thatcher’s expected scorn and suspicion. Most seemed to be vaguely curious about what it would entail, and for the sake of fairness, the teams and order of participation would be randomly selected. Harry was sure this would be the perfect tool to keep Rainbow on top of its game, he couldn’t wait to see how the test run went.

Sitting next to the IT specialist who would handle the connection, Harry greeted the first operators with a relaxed smile. He regarded the attackers; overall it wasn’t a bad group despite having been picked at random. However, there was one crucial matter he needed to ask.

“Where is the fifth member of the team?”

“It was Thatcher,” Glaz answered.

That was explanation enough, but Hibana felt the need to add something. “He said he would not be a lab rat for this ‘fookin Matrix shit’, sir.”

Hibana’s impression of the older operator was spot on, and Harry saw the rest of the team trying to not laugh. Oh well, expecting any different would have been a folly. A team of four wasn’t the end of the world, not when the selected training program was such that they could probably do it even if they were going one by one, alone.

It was time for the first run of the virtual reality program, to test how well the attacking and defending simulations worked.

ATTACKING TEAM

At first there was only darkness, and a strange and dizzying feeling like someone had dipped his brain in molasses. Fuze wondered if this was a hangover simulator or if it was possible to puke when your reality wasn’t even, well, real.

The world became clearer around him with startling celerity, and he found himself in front of a building, the smell of water clinging to the air while thunder cracked ominously over their heads. He had to admit the simulation was quite convincing.

“Hostage located, attackers prepared for extraction,” a disembodied voice told them.

They all nodded at each other, ready to go. Except for Maverick. The American seemed to be rooted on the spot, unresponsive. Being the one closest to him, Fuze waved a hand in front of his face. No reaction. It was creepy, like staring at a mannequin.

“Movin’ out,” Maverick said, turning around to face the docks behind them. He proceeded to stand in place as if he was imitating a statue.

“Something is wrong with him,” Glaz helpfully stated. Hibana snorted and Fuze rolled his eyes behind his helmet. He could see that by himself, thank you very much.

“I’m giving standby a new meaning,” Maverick turned around once more and chuckled apologetically at the end.

He was clearly aware he was acting with delay, almost as if he was lagging. Could that be the answer? Perhaps the program needed to be calibrated better, and after all this was the first time tying it, so Fuze would say yes, Maverick was lagging.

“Stay together and follow my lead.” Right after saying so, Hibana dashed away towards the building.

Fuze looked at their still unmoving teammate and then to Glaz, who shrugged at him, and sprinted after Hibana before Fuze could say anything. Damn them, he didn’t want to act as a babysitter! Maybe leaving Maverick out here wasn’t so bad? This wasn’t real, death was not permanent here. However, the decision was taken for him when Maverick suddenly moved.

Following the American seemed his best choice, and if things went south, he could use Maverick as an unmoving shield of sorts. Not the most noble notion, but if he froze again, Fuze at least would find a way to use it in his favour. They reached a barricaded entrance, and he saw how Maverick insisted on breaking it. Hit by agonizingly slow hit. It was a miracle nobody shot him in the long pauses between his movements. Then, instead of entering the building, Maverick remained planted there, in front of the entrance and without cover. Damn it, not again!

A well known sound startled him, a heavy breathing that all operators hated. It made sense that the White Mask bombers had been included in the simulation, but Fuze wasn’t happy about it. Seeing the blue light get closer and closer to the still frozen Maverick, he acted by instinct and swept in to kill the bomber. It was a close call; the suit beeping menacingly before it dropped dead right in front of Maverick. And just as Fuze thought they were on the clear, a second bomber came rushing down the hall. He killed it too, taking a bullet in the process, and Maverick better appreciate his sacrifice or Fuze would personally kill him next time.

After that, the American unfroze, shooting at thin air and moving choppily forward. Everything went well for about a minute, Fuze killing the two hostiles they encountered while Maverick shot at them once they were already dead, and thus hitting nothing at all. Then he stopped again. Knowing it might take him a while to get unstuck, Fuze went to put one of his cluster charges in a nearby barricaded door. He could see the surrounding walls were reinforced, so it was safe to say there was someone inside that room. Just as the cluster charged was primed and ready to go, Maverick appeared behind him and hit him in a delayed attempt to break the barricade. The bastard hit so hard that it knocked Fuze down. The ruckus alerted the hostiles in the other side of the barricade who then shot through it, destroying his precious cluster charge and hitting Fuze as well. Everything went dark, and he was pretty sure he just died.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back on the real world, Harry praising him for his cooperative spirit as the technician disconnected him from the simulation. Fuze glared both at Harry and at the seemingly unconscious Maverick next to him. If looks could kill, they all would drop dead. Next time something like this happened he would do like Glaz and run like hell, let someone else be stuck babysitting the team’s glitchy member. Worst of all was that he had died but Maverick was still alive apparently, talk about unfair. He would make the American’s life hell next time they met at the gym.

DEFENDING TEAM

Having heard from Glaz and Fuze about their experience, the simulated environment didn’t surprise Kapkan that much. Although it was quite the whiplash to go from being on a room at the base, and next second everything was dark and a completely different room just appeared around you.

“Secure the room, protect the hostage,” the disembodied voice instructed.

Of all his teammates, only Doc was taking measure to secure the room, reinforcing a wall. Smoke was gleefully shooting holes into another wall with his shotgun,  Caveira was nowhere to be seen, and Bandit was staring around the room.

“I wonder how realistic this is,” the German pondered aloud. “Any volunteers to see how friendly fire works?”

“Sure, catch this!”

A cloud of yellow gas followed Smoke’s cheerful warning, engulfing them and making them cough despite their lack of actual lungs. The simulation was apparently that realistic. Doc was screaming something between coughing fits, then everything went black.

“Mission failed, the hostage was lost.”

It was as if someone rewinded time, and they found themselves in the same situation from before, just as the announcer stated they needed to protect the hostage. Kapkan frowned, unsure about how he felt about this whole virtual reality thing and dying. It was disorienting.

“Ooh, that was fun” Smoke laughed, but he was the only one amused by their situation. “I’m pretty sure there’s more havoc to wreak.”

Shooting the hostage with the shotgun didn’t instantly kill him, but only because Doc used one of his stims on the hostage. Then he shot Smoke, but with his normal revolver. It was surprising to see Doc kill a teammate, but in this case it was not undeserved to be honest.

“Nobody else has to end up hurt if you all do your jobs,” Doc announced, earning a surprised look from both Caveira and Bandit. Kapkan on his part couldn’t care less, and he started to lay down his traps.

“You realize that’s just a bunch of pixels, right?” Bandit pointed at the hostage, “Just as we are right now.”

Kapkan was too busy fixing one of his EDDs to the door’s frame to pay attention to what Doc replied, the sound of his drill drowning everything else. Whatever he said, it was enough to get Bandit reinforcing the walls of the room. Once again Caveira had disappeared, and Kapkan decided that while not as stealthy as she was, he would also roam and see where the hostiles were coming from.

The corridor outside the room was longer than Kapkan imagined, and soon he realized they were supposed to be in some sort of plane, even if it was nothing like any other plane he’d been in. Going around the corner, he came face to face with a group of White Masks. Kapkan took a second to admire how real they looked, before opening fire on them. In the narrow corridor, there weren’t many places to take cover, and he got hit a couple of times before he killed them all. Fortunately, all he felt was a light tingling sensation at the supposed loss of health. It was reassuring to know whoever coded this simulation wasn’t sadistic enough to implement the pain associated to bullet wounds in real life.

A second wave would come soon, and Kapkan barricaded a possible entrance, setting one of his traps on another. This way he would know if they came in from any of these points. He went back to the objective room, to check how his teammates were doing, and hopefully to receive a stim shot from Doc. No such luck, Doc said Kapkan was well enough to keep fighting and that he was saving the stims for emergencies. It made sense, Kapkan supposed, but he wasn’t happy with it.

Deciding to take a more proactive role, he stepped out of the plane to see if he could spot the hostiles. The disembodied voice cautioned him to get back inside before he would die, accompanied by a fucking annoying effect that tinged everything red. What kind of bullshit was this? However, before he could turn around and get back in, someone barricaded the entrance, wooden planks sealing the door and his fate, most probably. Cursing up a storm, he broke the barricade and got inside the plane just as the red effect got stronger. He had just narrowly dodged death, he was sure. And of course, Bandit was the culprit, laughing like a hyena until Kapkan smacked the back of his head for it. It wasn’t as satisfying as it should have been, since he knew Bandit wouldn’t feel the true force of his hit.

Now that revenge was taken care of, Kapkan hid behind the nearest corner and lay in wait. When the hostiles came through the main entrance, he caught them unaware. So easy it was almost disappointing. He reloaded his weapon while waiting for the next wave of enemies, not wanting to move from this spot yet. Although he used the last of his traps on the main door. Just as he imagined, the first enemy blew himself with the trap. However, he hadn’t expected someone to drop from a hatch right above him. Fuck, he didn’t even know that thing was there!

They caught him in the crossfire and he promptly went down, unable to move and with his vision getting darker. Now would be the perfect moment for Doc to use his stim shots, Kapkan hoped the Frenchman could reach him soon, before he died from a very preventable mistake that would destroy his reputation as a hunter. He heard gunshots near him and then Bandit and Doc came into his field of vision.

Doc’s voice floated down to him, “I’ve got you, you’ll be alright.”

Any relief he might have felt was replaced by confusion when he heard a loud gunshot, then darkness. Kapkan woke up in real life and was greeted by Smoke.

“Doc is out of control, mate, I tell you.” The British defender said while looking at a screen. Kapkan got closer and saw Bandit in the simulation asking Doc why he had put Kapkan out of his misery instead of helping him. Doc claimed it had been a mistake, but Kapkan wasn’t sure if he believed him. “I hope they end soon, watching gets boring. Except when you died, that was entertaining!”

He wondered if he could get away with whacking Smoke upside the head, but Harry was observing them, no doubt taking notes on their behaviour as he always did. What a buzzkill. Kapkan instead gave Smoke a smile full of teeth, and started to plot his revenge for the next round. If the game was now team killing, he would excel at it.

[angstandhappiness]

PRETTY but CAPTAIN WHY 150 LAYERS WHY

"But beyond all my pain, there was you"

Narilamb designs: @runningwithscizzorz

here's an alt version of Narinder without the veil!! :D