Blackened Forest Part 1

0921 hours, 18 June 0145…

*SLASH SLASH SLASH*

*BAM BAM BAM*

*BANG BANG BANG BANG*

Christine, Axel, and I were doing simulation training in the training chamber. Where the three of us had a simple task like killing tons of simulated Infectoids and monsters for rescuing civilians' mission. The three of us doing simulation training normally until…

"Stop for a second!" Commander Katoki shouted through the mic inside the control room while pausing the simulation training. And then he continued.

"You guys forgot one thing!"

"What is it, Commander?" Axel asked while lowering his Hammer.

And then, Commander Katoki pointed at a dying virtual civilian and said to us.

"You forgot to save one pregnant woman right there! Look at her. She's murdered brutally by those Infectoids! Don't you even pay attention and prioritize the civilian's safety first?"

The unexpected obstacle frustrated me, he added it just then in his comfortable control room. So I replied to him.

"Then, why are you suddenly putting a single civilian in this simulation when you're claiming all civilians are hiding in that place before the simulation begins?"

Commander Katoki facepalmed his forehead with his hand in fury and replied, "Listen here, you little shit! Anything can happen on any mission, so the three of you better be prepared than ever. Don't forget to look at the situation with eagle eyes before performing the combat, and also restrain from acting on your own during the mission, teamwork matters the most to carry out your mission. That's all! Is there anything you want to complain about?"

I approached Commander Katoki in front of the glass barrier and asked.

"So you're saying you can just manipulate the simulation mission for your satisfaction and claim this is what the actual mission looks like, right?" I asked Commander Katoki with a glare.

Commander Katoki sighed in frustration, as if we were upsetting him to death, and then he shouted.

"Not like THAT!"

He banged the table harshly with his right fist, and that caused the three of us to freeze in the middle when his anger reached the maximum level.

And then, he said in anger.

"FOR GOD's sake, Tsuyuki! How many times do I have to tell you to stop acting on your own? What's the point of you being traumatized by the death of your previous comrades when your nonchalant action during the battle is the reason your tragedy will be repeated soon? And how can you prevent these actions from repeating when you're always minding your own business?"

Hearing Commander Katoki's rant shook me to my core from how harsh and scary he was when at maximum anger. He could even kill us in the simulation if he wanted to.

He looked down for a few seconds. Then he sighed. And after that, he said again.

"I know I love giving you an unnecessary additional aim in this simulation that makes the three of you come unprepared and lose in the middle. Although this is a simulation that anyone can manipulate, this will help you so much during the actual battle whenever some unexpected things occur."

"Well, the point is, be creative, work smart, and cut the corner if you wish to achieve your goal easier."

His tone was calming down after that. And then he continued.

"Tsuyuki, as a Black Vulture leader, did a great job for thinking outside the box, working fast, and pushing limits. However, he still needs to improvise, adapt, and overcome any unexpected obstacle that he and his teammate will face later on," He said while pointing at me.

"Yes… Commander… Sorry" Christine said while looking down in a guilt.

We were suspended in the training room because of Commander Katoki's anger. Suddenly, Commander Marisa entered the control room of a sudden and called Commander Katoki from behind.

"Commander Katoki, Director Brezhnev, gave the Black Vulture squadron a mission."

And then Commander Katoki looked back and replied to her.

"Alright, I'll report it back later, Commander Marisa."

After that, Commander Marisa left the control room.

After Commander Marisa left the control room, Commander Katoki said in a slightly assertive tone.

"I want the three of you to listen carefully. Director Brezhnev give you the first mission that you'll attend soon."

"What mission, commander?" Axel asked curiously.

"Collect 30 Poisonshroom and collect 24 dead android parts," Commander Katoki answered clearly.

It confused me why Director Brezhnev wanted us to collect these things, so I asked Commander Katoki again.

"All of these for what?"

Katoki raised both of his shoulders and replied.

"I wouldn't know, ask the Director instead."

And then he continued.

"The point is, I want all of you to stay cautious in this mission. Especially you, Tsuyuki. Restrain from acting on your own and don't forget to protect your teammates on the mission! Because teamwork matter the most if you wish to achieve your goals!" Said Commander Katoki when he's pointing at us.

"Yes, Commander!" the three of us replied assertively.

"Good! Now, I want three of you to head to the briefing room for a mission briefing. Come with me."

***

Inside the briefing room, three of us sat in a front-row chair and paid attention to Commander Darrell and Katoki's presentation from the LCD projector screen about the mission that we would attend on.

"Alright Black Vulture team. This is the first mission that you'll attend, so don't mess up in a single, or else you're dead meat!" Commander Katoki explained in an assertive tone.

And then, Commander Darrell added while pointing his left finger and explaining the mission through the LCD projector screen that showed us the picture of Harimal Forest maps.

"The mission is simple. It's a gathering mission where three of you must collect 30 Poisonshroom and 24 Android Parts in Harimal Forest at Monaka Island."

Looking at the Harimal Forest map picture triggered my PTSD about the death of my comrades because of Onigashi, where she ever stabbed me with her Katana.

I was confused. What was the deal with Harimal Forest overall? Didn't we already kill the Palkeros and saved the village from that monster? Although we got killed ourselves by a much scarier being.

And what the hell did Minerva want with that forest? Resources for farming or mining in there? Didn't they already have a factory somewhere else? And what was the deal with Monaka Island to Minerva? Maybe because Minerva wanted to protect Monaka Island from the colonizing Gorusian, Solmanish, and Martonian forces? Hell, how would I know? Because it was all up to Director Brezhnev.

"Harimal Forest? Didn't I've ever attended a mission in there?" I asked in confusion while raising my right hand.

"This one is different, Tsuyuki. It's a gathering mission instead of hunting or a slaying mission. He ordered three of you to gather stuff in the wild and bring it to us, simple as that."

"Commander, I have a question. What if we accidentally or intentionally picked up the materials that's exceeding the criteria mentioned before? For example, when Commander told us to pick up 30 Poisonshroom and I picked up more than that, what should I do with the rest of it?" Axel asked.

And then, Commander Darrell explained.

"If you don't know, there's a currency system where you can exchange your Salvage Point for a specific good in a shop that only uses Salvage Point currency. It includes several Salvaging Materials in the criteria for point exchanging. However, not all wild material you've found in the wild can exchanged into points because some of them are important for upgrading."

"To find the mushrooms, you must enter the dark path of the forest. Just follow the carved path, passing down the dark forest, and after that, you'll find a gigantic tree with growing mushrooms in it. In that tree, you'll find various mushrooms with various effects. For examples: Poisonshroom gives you poison, Exigeshroom gives you confusion, Zealoshroom makes you go berserk, and so on," Commander Katoki added.

And then, he continued while showing us the next pictures from the LCD projector screen.

A broken war-torn tent with a rusty chest inside it and broken android parts that were scattered beside the chest. After that, he explained the picture and the mission.

"And also, besides the gigantic tree on the left, you'll find a ravaged tent with a chest and broken android parts in it. Inside that ravaged tent, you can collect various broken android parts and you can salvage some useful material."

"After all of you finished collecting the Poisonshroom, and the dead android parts that meet the specified amount, come back to the safe zone and put all these goods into the chest in front of the safe zone tent. After that, call the ride and they'll take you home, including the goods you've put on the chest," Commander Katoki continued.

"All of these for creating weapons or a biofuel for this HQ Generator?" I asked curiously.

"Maybe both," Commander Katoki answered while raising his shoulders.

"You guys need to stay cautious and watch your backs if there are any lurking beasts that could devour your back if you're not cautious enough,"

After the presentation, Commander Katoki said to the three of us assertively.

"Alright, time's up! Get your asses up into the incinerator right now!"

Three of us quickly stood up and replied with a Minerva's Jargon.

"Yes, Commander!"

"Justice above everything!"

"Good! Now onto the mission, dismissed!" Commander Darrell replied.

After that, the three of us exited the briefing room and headed to the helipad on the topside of the HQ to ride the Osprey on the way to Monaka Island.

Minerva HQ was stationed on St. Minerva Island. Where St. Minerva Island is placed between the southernmost part of Solmantou and the northwest part of Monaka Island. And the journey from ST. Minerva Island into Monaka Island would take around 30 minutes if we were using an Osprey that we were riding on. However, it could go faster than that, around under 10 minutes if we were using a faster plane.

***

0954 hours, 18 June 0145…

Inside this Osprey, we have arrived at the Harimal Forest. The pilot landed his Osprey in the safe zone near the tent. After he landed his Osprey, he opened the cargo door, and the three of us walked out from the cargo to inspecting the forest.

"The weather sure looks clear today," Axel said while looking at the sky and the green forests on the left side.

"Infectoids love lurking in the dark, considering the hunter won't easily spot them like us," Christine said while looking at her smartphone and analyzing the threat level in this area.

"We'll just hope the threat level in this area is lower than we've predicted," I said to myself.

2 Osprey pilots pulled the weapon box out from the cargo, and one of them said to us.

"Hey, kids! Don't forget your weapons to slash those beast asses!"

"Don't forget your mission objective! And be careful out there!" Another Osprey pilot crew continued when he was about to enter back the Osprey.

"We're on it!" I replied to them. After that, the three of us approached the weapon box while the Osprey had departed, leaving the three of us in the Harimal Forest Basecamp.

We scanned each of our hands in the hand scanner at the top of the weapon box to open the box. After the box was open, it revealed 6 of our weapons, 3 of them were melee weapons (My Nakajima, a Hammer, and a Lancepear), and 3 of them were ranged weapons (My Pistol, a Machine Gun, and a Bow).

"Yes! I can't wait to kick those Infectoids asses with these babies," I said in excitement when picking up my Nakajima and my Kiryu from the weapon box.

I sheathed my Nakajima on my back, putting my Kiryu into my right waist holster, and putting the ammo magazines into my left waist holster.

After equipping myself with my weaponry, I looked up at my teammate's weapons. I saw a Hammer with 2 Exhaust systems on each side, a Machine Gun, a Spear with an exhaust system on the left side, and a Bow.

"By the way, whose weapons are these?" I asked while pointing at the Hammer and the Machine Gun.

"Oh, these are my babies. This is Bulldozer and this is Coolio," Axel replied while picking up his Hammer called 'Bulldozer' and his Machine Gun called 'Coolio'

"Wow, didn't realize your weapons got a name," I added while nodding.

Then, he picked up his Machine Gun magazine ammo's and put one magazine into his Machine Gun. After that, he cocked the Machine Gun.

"And, is that your Lancepear and your Bow?" I asked Christine while she was equipping her Spear and her Bow.

"Yes, mine had a name, too. This is Aubrey, and this is Leda," she answered while brandishing her Lancepear "Aubrey" and her Bow "Leda".

After that, she tested her Bow by shooting one arrow at a lonely leaf on the top of a nearby tree to find any problem with her arrow. One shot and the leaf was broken cleanly at the stem.

"Wow, that's a nice name," I said while nodding in amazement at her cool performance.

Although Bow and Arrow was a long-obsolete weapon when firearms invented, people still used these kinds of weapons because they thought it looked anti-mainstream and much cooler than normal firearms. Despite the impracticality, it was up to the user choice to use these kinds of weapons.

After that, I picked up the secret weapon that had I slipped beneath the weapon box. It was a grapple hook gauntlet for my left hand that I could use as a weapon. I quickly equipped the grapple hook gauntlet into my left hand.

Both Axel and Christine looked at my grapple hook gauntlet on my left hand curiously, yet amazed. Axel approached me and asked.

"What is that on your left hand, Tsuyuki?"

"It's a Claw," I answered while tightening up the Claw belt in my left hand.

"Claw?" Christine asked confusedly.

After I tighten up the belt of my claws in my left wrist, I explained.

"It's a grapple hook gauntlet you wore on your left hand. Even you can use this as a weapon.,"

"Oh… I see…" Christine added and nodded in understanding.

"By the way, did you guys already maintain your weapons before the mission?" Axel asked us.

"Mine's working fine," Christine replied while inspecting her Lancepear and her Bow to find any problem within.

"Well, the only one way to find out is," I said while stabbing my Nakajima into the ground.

After that, I revved my Nakajima 3 times, and it makes a loud 2-Stroke sound.

*BRAAP BRAAP BRAAAAAAPAPAPAPAPAP*

*BANG*

The exhaust from my Nakajima popped flames loudly after I revved my Nakajima 3 times. Axel wanted to rev his Hammer as he saw me revving my Nakajima.

"Oooh, nice one. Let me try it."

Then Axel swung his Hammer into the front and revved the throttle such that it made a loud V-Twin Cruiser sound.

*VROOM VROOM VROOM*

The exhaust from Axel's Hammer spouted fire like Dragon breath.

"Wow, your Hammer exhaust spits flames?" I asked in amazement, looking at Axel's Hammer after he revved his throttle several times.

"Cool, wasn't it?" Axel replied with a smile and raised his left eyebrow as a 'Check it out' expression.

"I want to try it too!" Christine said in excitement to join the revving competition with her Lancepear.

She's spun her Lancepear upward, pointing into the front as she was about to charge, and revved the throttle that it made rumbling 2 cylinder sound.

*BRUUMM BRUUMM BRUUUUMBUMBUMBUMBUM*

Her Lancepear exhaust also popped a flame, which was louder than mine.

Surely, for the fighting style department, our team would never lack.

After that, the three of us prepared ourselves to do an adventure into the darkest part of Harimal Forest to find Poisonshrooms and dead Android Parts.

"Everyone ready?" I asked everyone while sheathing my Nakajima onto my back and tightening up my backpack belt.

"Let's dig in!" Axel replied while sheathing his Hammer and his Machine Gun into his back, and tightening his backpack belt.

And then, Christine replied while tightening up her backpack belt.

"Alright, it's time to go," I said to everyone.

After equipping ourselves with our weaponry, the three of us started our journey into the deepest part of the Harimal Forest where we would find the Poisonshroom and the dead android parts.