"Hiro Saito, we need your presence at this time."
Two soldiers suddenly barged into our training session and interrupted Sgt. Kimura, while looking at me.
"He has not finished his training for today. He will not leave until we have finished."
Sgt. Kimura said with a serious expression.
"It's from high command, Sergeant. It's important."
Said one of the soldiers.
"Damn, guess I don't have a choice. Cadet, go with them. We can continue later."
Sgt. Kimura said.
All the other cadets looked confused at me. They had already been somewhat suspicious, but this made it even worse. I'll try to just act normal.
"Yes, sir."
I responded.
I gave my MP5 to Sgt. Kimura, as I no longer needed it. As I walked away, I looked behind me. Daigo was grinning a little. I imagine he thought I got into trouble or something. Kaide looked as if she was disappointed. I guessed she wanted to see me do it since we both had the same weapon.
As I walked with the two soldiers into the main building, I could see Commissioner Takahashi standing inside. He seemed to be waiting for me. I imagined it had something to do with me being in both the Shooter and Swordsman classes. As I walked inside the building, I caught a gist of somebody familiar standing next to Commissioner Takahashi.
"Hiro!! How you doin?!"
It was Emi! She came at me and grabbed my shoulder. She seemed happy to see me. But what was she doing with Commissioner Takahashi?
"Greetings, Hiro. I'm sure you already know Emi here. There was something I had to forgotten to tell you. Emi is also one of our most promising cadets here, so she will also go through the same circumstances you do."
So apparently Emi was also going to be taking both Shooter and Swordsman training.
"Both of you, come with me. I have to talk to you about something."
Commissioner Takahashi seemed serious as he said this. Emi And I looked at each other confused, but we obliged.
As we walked, Commissioner Takahashi cleared his throat.
"The reason I pulled you out from your classes today is because High Command has been asking us to have both of you ready for battle as soon as possible. Even before the other cadets. There is intel about Antonov and his supporters already planning attacks or an invasion of Japan. We are not sure about when or how, so we have to put both of you in even quicker, harsher training."
Commissioner Takahashi explained.
We had been pulled from our normal lives and selected to be special soldiers. And it seemed like every day we were put under more pressure, training, and circumstances. Now they wanted us to train even faster to become "War-Knights".
As I thought to myself, Emi asked a question.
"Why do you need us? We are still just kids. Why don't you use real soldiers ready for an attack? We shouldn't be going through all of this. I'm sure our parents miss us"
Emi asked.
Commissioner Takahashi sighed.
"Sorry if you feel that way, but we have reasons. One is that young soldiers are more efficient and adapt faster than older soldiers. Second is that the Self-Defense Force is currently going through a crisis. Reports say that many officials have started to secretly sympathize with Antonov. Antonov has bribed some officials, but not all have fallen. These officials have the power to seize control of every single soldier in our ranks. The truth is, that the War-Knight program is one that only some individuals know about. We have kept it secret from many other Self-Defense Force officials. We decided that strong and well-trained young soldiers would be able to use these new technologies and be able to fight off Antonov's supporters, soldiers, and even our own army if they sided with him. We knew young people wouldn't be interested in Antonov's politics and propaganda."
Emi and I were completely silent the whole time. We were just learning about this. About how bad the Antonov situation was. Even the Self Defense Force was divided between each other. That would mean that we might even have to fight some of our own. I'm sure this cleared some of Emi's questions, but it made me question even more about what was being hidden from us. Nonetheless, I decided not to talk.
"That's why we need to speed up your training. And sorry both of you couldn't finish your training. I assure you that in the next training procedure, you will become fine War-Knights. Both of you will be together from now on. In training and as soldiers. We have physical, mental, and cognitive records from both of you and you both seem to match."
Commissioner Takahashi explained carefully.
So their plan was to get both me and Emi to know each other and then have us train and become partners? I didn't mind it at first, but I realized that we were both bestowed such responsibility. More than any other cadet or soldier. As I looked over at Emi, her face was a little red. Maybe because of something Commissioner Takahashi said, but I didn't pay close attention. I was being dragged around constantly, and they were making sure that I had the patience and dedication to go through everything they wanted me to do. Now that I was at my limit, this "harsher" training might end up triggering something bad…