HA3 3.1 – Second Opinion
As they had agreed before, Hide and Takeo would go to the workshop together for next few weeks. The two meet at a subway station 5 km away from Chikara Tower, and Hide immediately took Takeo to sit in an empty bench.
“Someone is tailing me,” Hide casually said. “And I think you also have tail in your six.”
“Are they Paolo’s men?”
“Most likely.”
“Can we shake them off in underground walkaway?” Takeo curiously asked.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
“The dudes that Paolo send are better than I expected. Even if we can shake them off today, there is no guarantee we can do it again tomorrow.”
“Then, what about our training in the workshop?”
After letting out a sigh Hide said, “Let’s postponed it until we finish our business with Paolo.”
Worry instantly filled Takeo’s face to the brim. “Are you sure it’s fine to skip our firearm training, when I and Shizuka are still at basic level?”
“We have no choice.” After a short pause Hide added, “We also have to stop our gathering information. Paolo must have been monitoring every activity we do right now.
But we can focus our effort to increase our other stats, like our driving skill, martial arts, or physical fitness.”
“Do the three of us will still train together?”
“No,” Hide firmly replied. “You train with Shizuka. Just do your usual training, including the 16 km ruck march on Saturday. You two can do it openly. I’m sure Shizuka will find proper training ground with ease.”
“What about you?”
“I will train on my own. I will also try to sneak to the workshop twice a week at least. I still have to make hand guard, stock, and pistol grip for our MP5 and M4, and build climbing wall for Shizuka.”
“Are you sure you want to do it alone? It sounds like a ton of works.”
“I will manage it. Just focus on your training.”
“Okay.”
“Now, text Shizuka using your smartphone, tell her you want to talk something important with her before the class started. Asked her to buy us breakfast too.”
“Okay.” Wasting no time Takeo sent the text. Then, he asked, “Can I ask something not related to our training?”
“Sure.”
“Is Americ tier-one truly the most combat tested tier-one?”
“Let me give you an example,” Hide casually said. “Americ JSOC is the only tier-one management that sends their operators to assist sniper unit in providing sniper over watch for regular unit when they carry out daily ops.
Other management will never adopt such radical approach. The number of tier-one operators under their management is too few. They can’t afford to lose them in everyday gunfight. Some even blatantly said that JSOC approach was too reckless.
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Yet it worked pretty well. It was one of the main reasons, why the effort from Iraqi insurgent and their foreign sponsor to drain Americ serviceman’s blood through massive deployment of sniper tactic across the country failed.”
“What about our country tier-one unit?”
“There is a covert program to facilitate individual who want to gain combat experience. It’s not limited only for tier-one folks, and our country is not the only country with such practice. But, it’s better for us to not know about the detail.”
“I see.”
“Other question?”
“Nope.”
“Let’s go to the school then.”
“Okay.”
---
Plausible deniability with a guaranteed reinstatement, it was basically a means to send military personnel to a covert combat tour, and the personnel could return to their old unit as long as public didn’t know their forbidden adventure and they were still fit to serve. Naoto had just returned from such adventure a few days ago.
He was a long-range precision shooter in Nikko’s army marksman unit, and received a contract through Paolo to participate in 3-weeks long hunter killer ops in some faraway country. He used fabricated knee injury report to resign from Nikko’s army, and then left the country to get medical treatment.
And now, six weeks before his reinstatement to his old unit, Paolo asked him to help him monitor a pair of high school kids. He thought it would be an easy job, but the kid he tailed managed to shake him off for a whole twelve minutes before reappearing in his sight.
While having big wonder in his mind, Naoto regrouped with Paolo after the kids he tailed entered their school. As he sat next to Paolo, he opened a conversation.
“Hide is definitely a sharp kid.”
“Yeah,” Paolo calmly replied.
“He is also too paranoid for a high school kid who lives in a peaceful country.”
After a nod Paolo said, “Most hacker is paranoid and very sharp by nature, or they won’t last.”
“I see.” After a short pause Naoto continued, “What do you found about their background and online activities?”
“Not much. They come from normal family, have no affiliation with dangerous element, but they definitely have a gift for software engineering and very good at their job.
Takeo is able to help his parent pay their debt, while Hide manages to open two accounts in Totsuka. One for himself and another one for his little sister,” Paolo said in a tone full of admiration. “And that’s why it’s very important to conduct direct surveillance on their daily life to find if I miss something.”
“So, we will maintain the surveillance on them for the next two weeks.”
“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind. Until the evaluation team is sure I don’t turn into a psycho and fit to return to my old unit, I have lot of free time.”
“I see.” After a nod Paolo curiously asked, “What do you say about your first combat experience?”
Naoto instantly let out a deep sigh. “Now, I understand why some folks call rain forest as green hell, especially in rainy season.”
After a smile Paolo said, “When rain pour down everything become wet, trail gone without a trace, and the rough terrain become treacherous. In sunny day, humidity spike and dehydration can kill you if you don’t be careful.
Eat cold canned food or dried ration only, can’t sleep well, move only at night, anything that needs battery mostly turned into liability after the first week, and before you realizing it you are already in the middle of deathly ambush and lose some good folks.”
“Yeah,” Naoto said in low voice.
“And yet, I heard two days before the operation end, you scored a 675 meters head shot using M16A2.”
“I was on top of my game that day.”
“I see.”
“But, it still can’t beat the record from Britss pathfinder dude at 693 meters using Diemaco C7.”
“Don’t get too greedy. In localized hunter-killer ops, it’s very hard for precision shooter to get a target opportunity beyond 200 meters. You were lucky enough to find a target beyond that range, and manage to hit it using five-five-six.”
“I know.”
“Well, let me buy you a breakfast before we go home.”
“I love to, but I have to meet my older brother,” Naoto said as he got up from the bench. “Buy me a drink after we tail the kids this afternoon.”
“Okay.”
Without further ado Paolo and Naoto then separated their way.
---
Tuesday morning, usually Shorimachi was already sat in his desk. But right now, he casually sat in a bench in a corner of Metro Police HQ’s backyard. While enjoying a piece of thick vanilla cream sandwich as his breakfast, he studied the data he received from Goto last night.
The data showed that the event in Kamui’s office highly likely had connection with some other recent events. The data also showed that the job was being executed by a professional crew consisted of high-expert from various field. However, even with their vast resource and information network, NFP couldn’t find a single clear clue about the suspect.
‘No wonder they are very worry about this development,’ Shorimachi muttered before putting the last piece of vanilla cream sandwich in his hand into his mouth. ‘To the point they lower themselves to work with a troublemaker like me.’
Then, a man suddenly entered the backyard, went straight to Shorimachi, and as he sat next to him the man said, “So, why do you call me?”
“First,” Shorimachi casually said. “Tell me about your leg injury.”
“Bro, you don’t need to worry about it.”
“Naoto, how can I don’t need to worry about it?” Shorimachi sternly said. “You love your military life so much, even though the military basically is doing nothing while spending taxpayer money.
Then, the military you love so much suddenly force you into early retirement because of leg injury, but you just accepted their decision as if it was nothing.
After that, you went to overseas without telling me, and when you returned you told me that it seemed there was a mistake in your medical evaluation. Most of all, there is a possibility you can return to your old unit.
How can I’m not worry when your life making rapid turn left and right in such a short time.”
Naoto just listened to Shorimachi’s rumbling with palmed face before saying, “First, believe me, our military is not just doing nothing. Second, if you ask me to come so that you can lecture me, I’m leaving.”
“Wait…” Shorimachi hastily said as Naoto got up to his feet. Then, after taking a deep breath he said, “I need your professional opinion.”
“On what field?” Naoto curiously asked. “Firearm is the only field I know, and I’m an idiot in everything else.”
“That’s more than enough,” Shorimachi said as he took out a zip-lock plastic bag containing some cartridge cases and projectile remains, and handed it over to Naoto. “You always talks about ammo like there is no tomorrow every time we go out for a drink. Now, show me that you really know about it.”
“Just take it to forensic,” Naoto nonchalantly replied.
“I need second opinion,” Shorimachi said in a drop dead serious tone. “Please.”
“Okay.”
Without delay Naoto sat back and took the plastic bag. A moment later, his eyes widened as he examined one of the cartridge cases.
At the same time Shorimachi took out his pocket notebook. “Spit out every piece of information you know.”
*****