I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 729

???Tudududududu!

"Whoo, whoo...!"

"That's what I expect from a mutant; your stamina is outstanding. Most others would have collapsed by now, probably throwing up everything they ate several times from the intensity of the training, but you finish only slightly winded."

"…I can't focus on shooting, okay!"

Mid-June, 11 AM, shooting range inside Central Park HQ.

While the Dagger Team was hearing a highly classified request that couldn't be shared anywhere, gunshots echoed continuously in the shooting range, a few hundred meters away from the restricted area.

And in the midst of this, Captain Edward Fawcett and Rapland were present.

Captain Fawcett surveyed his surroundings. There were a few soldiers, including Rapland, undergoing shooting training. Some faces were familiar, while others were strangers, but the most noticeable thing was the slightly different combat uniforms.

This couldn't be helped. Central Park was literally… a mix of soldiers from various units. The National Guard, Army, Coast Guard, Air Force, Marine Corps… all of them had been scattered and absorbed into the HQ to save Manhattan.

Proper military uniforms hadn't been issued, and they were at the point where they had to cherish what they had.

'…'

His thoughts wandered for a moment. Captain Fawcett shook off the distraction and refocused on Rapland, who was awkwardly shooting.

He was one of the heroes of Central Park, having saved over a hundred soldiers and countless civilians from Brooklyn, and in any other situation, he would have been incredibly busy. But the reason he could afford to watch over Rapland was simple.

When a massive influx of various soldiers arrived suddenly at Central Park, the military and civilian sectors were overwhelmed with manpower shortages, so they started gathering soldiers regardless of their affiliation.

In the process, the command structure had been reorganized, and temporarily, the authority of officers like Captain Fawcett had been slightly undermined.

To be more specific, he had received an enormous number of "recommendations" asking whether he could lend his soldiers for specific tasks, which had led to others taking over his personnel management duties, thus giving him time to watch Rapland.

"I’m not sure I need to personally supervise, though..."

"Did you say something?"

"I said, after you're done shooting, do the safety check and get out of the shooting range."

"That's not it."

"Just come out, idiot."

Rapland grumbled and walked out of the shooting range.

With a clank, when the safety check was finished, she fidgeted with her gun, then met Captain Fawcett's gaze. Her expression showed clear dissatisfaction.

"...What’s this? Can't I, like, put accessories on my gun like the Dagger Team members?"

"Do you think you’ll even be able to use it properly if you add those? Focus on the basics, the basics."

"Tch..."

She exchanged a glance with Captain Fawcett before walking over to a chair at the back of the range, and Captain Fawcett sat next to her. Smoke was still rising from her gun’s muzzle.

Glancing down at it, Rapland added:

"Seriously, is shooting like this going to get me anywhere?"

"You’re getting used to firearms. It’s a boring process, but the people you want to be like have already gone through it. One of them... I’m not sure, but anyway."

"Ugh."

Rapland laughed bitterly, and Captain Fawcett spoke again.

"Special forces don’t just shoot guns and walk around. They need to be skilled in firearms, engineering, medicine, communications, intelligence, operations... all of it. The Icarus Gear seems to have integrated all those specialties into one, but handling it depends on the individual’s ability."

"…"

"If you’re ever free, look up the Green Beret Q course. You’ll see how much effort goes into training a single operator."

"…I don’t have access to that information. As a trainee operations officer, I haven’t been granted full access yet."

"…Guess I’ll look it up myself."

Captain Fawcett raised his left hand, and a wearable tablet on his wrist activated. A hologram appeared, and a pop-up window opened. He browsed the limited internal database only accessible within Central Park and quickly searched for information on special forces training, before reading it through.

His mouth opened without hesitation.

"For engineers, bridging, explosives, fortifications, sabotage, vehicle engine repairs, landmine placement and removal, civil operations repairs and purification tasks. For medical, handling medical records, equipment and pharmaceuticals, managing evacuation procedures, providing medical advice, dental, dermatology, obstetrics, infectious and pediatric diseases, emergency surgery..."

"…Huh?"

"That’s just the specialties, though. Every operator is expected to know things like the doctrine of the land, small unit tactics, survival training, evasion and resistance training, CQB, tactical shooting, sniping, high-altitude jumps, combat scuba diving…"

"Uh, that’s..."

"By the way, those things I just mentioned? I can’t do them properly either."

Clink.

Then, how on earth is Rapland, the youngest in the Dagger Team, going to keep up with those who have mastered all of that, even if she has the Gear? Rapland carefully lowered her head in thought.

Captain Fawcett wasn’t unaware of this. With just that small reaction, he could guess what she was thinking. It couldn’t be helped. Eugene was quite the mystery to him as well.

What should he say? Instead of offering premature comfort or conclusions, he decided to speak his mind.

"Has Eugene ever told you how he ended up in the 107th Military Police Company?"

"…I’m not sure. I don’t remember well."

"We were at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. When Rikers attacked the hospital, Eugene took down each of the Rikers attackers from far away with single shots."

"Sniper shots… Wait a second, that was…"

"At the end of January."

Brooklyn, not Central Park HQ.

That was five months ago. Although Rapland wasn’t directly involved in the Maimonides Hospital attack, she knew the situation well enough herself.

Could Eugene really have had the skills to protect himself so early? The thought crossed her mind, but the conversation continued.

"He didn’t pick up some random gun. He was holding a military assault rifle that Sergeant Baker had taken out for supplies. And he even recovered the dog tags. Quite the funny guy."

"…Even if he’s a mutant, it seems like he was born to be a soldier or operator."

"Probably. I heard he came from Korea. He served for about a year and a half. I’m sure you’ve heard about that part, so no need for further explanation."

"That’s right."

Someone who could perform at least two, three, or more times what others could do in a few months, even as a mutant, would certainly be able to absorb the knowledge from top-tier operators training the Dagger Team.

And as for him… he still had a long way to go.

It was a sad thought for Rapland, but her body was incredibly sensitive to changes in emotion.

Seeing her wolf ears droop, Captain Fawcett briefly looked away and then raised his hand to pat her head.

Just like being struck by lightning, her ears and tail perked up, her gray eyes widened, and Captain Fawcett added:

"Unfortunately, you’ll have plenty of chances to rise to the same level as them, and to show off your skills."

"…Why is that unfortunate?"

"Isn’t it? You know how much blood you’ll have to spill to stand in the same place as the Dagger Team, don’t you?"

"…"

Ah.

He was right. Right now, Central Park was praising the heroic deeds of the Dagger Team, but to stabilize people’s lives and rebuild America, it meant piling up mountains of corpses in the way of those who would disrupt it.

Looking at this, Captain Fawcett added:

"Don’t get too attached to being an operator. I’ve also been asked by those guys, and while Central Park’s policy is to turn all residents into a standing army... you’ll be a great operations officer too."

"…"

"As long as there are still rounds left, let me know if you want to keep shooting. I’ve sniffed so much gunpowder that I’ve got a headache."

"Let’s go out together."

He didn’t refuse, and the two of them stepped out of the shooting range.

Between the towering skyscrapers, they could see the southern end, with black smoke slowly drifting into the sky. Anyone who saw it would immediately recognize that the smoke was coming from JFK Airport, where something was burning.

Captain Fawcett muttered, looking at it with a grim expression.

"The weather’s pretty nice."

"Yeah, it sure is."

The sunlight was harsh, and the weather was chilling.

America was still quiet.

"Did you hear about Westchester military airport? I never thought we'd be saying there's so many Avengers that it's causing trouble."

"There are a few airports on Long Island too, like East Hampton, MacArthur, and Gabreski."

"Do you think anyone’s going to land there and steal something? It’s a waste to put valuable personnel like maintenance workers, bomb disposal experts, and support staff in places like that. It's 70 km away from Central Park."

"Ugh, I don't know what to say. Fine. I was wrong, you bunch."

"No, you’re just pointing out the wrong places…ugh, ugh!"

Logan’s deadly elbow pressure move was in full effect, and Laurentina, who felt it throughout her body, was screaming in pain. This was in the Alpha-class mutant dormitory of Central Park HQ.

The sunset sky was filled with black smoke. The smoke was rising from JFK International Airport, where something was burning, just as the operation in Syracuse was beginning.

The airport had been burning for more than a week now, thanks to nanomachines that decomposed organic material and emitted enormous heat.

Fortunately, New York’s winds were mainly blowing southwest at this time. Someone had once said, "It’s lucky you won’t smell the horrible stench that once you've inhaled it, you’ll never forget it." Rapland, who was especially sensitive to smells, didn’t say anything, and it was clear that she was avoiding the scent.

But recently, another problem had arisen.

"Damn, there's fur on the air purifier filter... Rapland, get over here!"

"W-What!? It’s not my fault! Waaaah!"

"Heh, this isn’t going to work. If we get a chance to leave Central Park, we’ll have to stop by a pet shop and get a brush for large dogs."

"The rookie won’t even shed fur, and Logan surprisingly doesn’t shed much... but I’m losing feathers. It’s maddening. At least it didn’t get into the air purifier."

"By the way, weren’t bird feathers the main material for dreamcatchers? I’ve been having nightmares lately..."

"Shut up."

Well, the conversation had taken a weird turn, but as it was said, despite the unusual circumstances, there had been changes since Rapland joined. Specifically, fur—wolf-like fur from her tail and ears.

Her combat gear wasn’t a big problem, but her regular clothes, especially black ones, were constantly accumulating fur. It even started to float in the air, making it worse.

As expected, Rapland quickly became the scapegoat for this. It didn’t take long for her to become the target of complaints about the fur.

"I’ll clean it up."

"No, no. It was just a joke. But do shake the blankets more often."

"Yes, sir."

"By the way, how old are you, Rapland? About 30? You wasted your twenties in prison, huh. That’s why you got into all that scamming, huh?"

"…Sorry."

Whenever the topic of scams came up, Rapland couldn’t help but shrink.

Anyway, since this was her fault, it wasn’t surprising. The mood in the dormitory, which could have been cold due to her criminal past, wasn’t bad at all. As I mentioned earlier, it was because of the fur topic.

Thanks to these small moments, physical contact became natural, and it was easy to strike up a conversation. Moreover, Rapland had a certain... appeal. How should I say it? Her reactions were sharp.

In the meantime, Olivia rolled her eyes, as if seeing something. At the same time, she spoke.

"Now, you’re wearing the shell casings you picked up last time as a necklace. Really unique, huh?"

"Ah, don’t mention that!"

"I got it, I got it. Don’t carry stuff like that around. Just hurry up and learn from us so you can catch up. Then you’ll be able to stand proudly alongside us… well, maybe not yet."

"Olivia, if you’re going to comfort me, do it properly. Don’t suddenly get cold in the middle of it."

…That was true.

Anyway, the conversation went on with more lighthearted moments, and even though Rapland had told Olivia that "if it takes too long, there’s no need to drag her along," such half-hearted compromises didn’t work.

Olivia subtly sat on Rapland’s bed and began playing with her hair, adding:

"I don’t mind if it takes a while. You’ll eventually come under me anyway. If the U.S. government survives, they’ll definitely make you an operator, and the post-apocalypse will need you. Same for me."

"…I already heard something similar from Captain Fawcett earlier."

"Yeah. Don’t worry about the near future. Also, it’s almost inevitable that I’ll be separated into a different task force with the Eagle Team, and when that happens, wouldn’t it be more fun if we knew each other a little bit?"

"Hmm. From the sound of it, it might take at least two years."

"I’m about the same, expecting it to take that long."

…Two years?

That wasn’t a short time, even when considering that they were alternating between missions and rest weeks. It seemed like it was too early to talk about it, but well...

I was still a rookie, and the average rank of the veterans here was above sergeant, with an average service length of more than 14 years. I couldn’t say much against their careful deliberations.

But...

???Thud!

"Ugh...!"

"By the way, in a little while, surface-to-air missiles are going to be transported here. They need to be placed on just about every building rooftop, so we’ll be learning a lot while going around. Got it?"

"That’s a threat!"

"Did you think otherwise?"

"Ugh, save me! There’s too much to do—!"

"Oh, just like a wolf, howling! Can you do it one more time?"

…Looking at this scene, I still didn’t get it.

But, well, such things happened, and with this kind of playfulness, it helped relieve the mental fatigue from the operations. Eventually, Rapland would understand that too.

Maybe.

I don’t know.

The sun was setting, but Central Park was still buzzing.

Terrible things were still happening around, but at least here, they could spend the day without worry.

Another day was coming to an end.

• [Movement detected 40 km southwest of the Tangso Locust 1, near Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant. Estimated to reach the facility in about 15 minutes.]

• [Understood. After confirming IFF, we’ll provide fire support and send the report to Redstone Arsenal.]

• [Got it. Let’s make it a hot one.]

Meanwhile, Artemis's delay was starting to fail from the very beginning.