Luckily, Officer Eva Lestrade quickly adapted to SWAT life.
She follows the regular SWAT routine without any problems and, as expected, performs very well in training.
And, unexpectedly, he seems to get along well with the other officers.
She hasn't caused any incidents, and she quietly goes about her duties in a positive manner.
In the short time we've known her, she's become the youngest and most beloved member of the team.
Of course, as always, her expressionless face made the rest of the crew unilaterally fall in love with her.
Anyway, after the 'embarrassing incident' on her first day, things have been going pretty well.
Aside from a couple of pokes from Lt. Ellis shortly after that incident, I haven't had to deal with much trouble myself.
Constable Eva Lestrade was already an elite officer.
"Except..."
She had a weakness, too.
Tactical training with her teammates.
"Suspect subduing is amazing, but..."
Another sigh escapes her as she reads the training evaluation report in front of her.
Officer Lestrade's role is to provide cover for Max, who has taken over as point man behind me.
She's at the front of the line, and before anyone can say a word, she's pinpointed the suspect robot.
The one that was hiding behind the wall.
She put two rounds into its torso and one into its head.
No rounds were wasted in the process.
When asked how she knew the suspect robot was on the other side of the wall, she replied, "I heard a sound.
Even with her tactical headset on, she could barely hear the robot's motorization.
It was clearly a tactically poor choice.
What if it was a civilian making the noise and not a suspect?
Or what if there was a civilian in her field of fire?
In real life, it would have been an unmitigated disaster.
"...But it's not like she didn't think about it."
That was the problem.
She continued to defeat the suspect robots by punching through walls from time to time, but spared the civilian robots in the process.
Even with a mix of suspect and civilian robots in the cramped room, her bullets were on target.
"I don't think he has eye implants."
She was a natural who had never had an implant.
On such a topic, she was more responsive and accurate than a trooper with a tactical prosthetic eye with clairvoyance.
Her immediate response earned our team the highest final score in the tactical exercise, so they didn't call her out on it, but it's a behavior that could be problematic in the real world.
Not all suspects are armed, and not all civilians are unarmed.
The moment you accidentally pull the trigger on the wrong target, there will be a terrible catastrophe.
I'm in a much better place now, thanks to my impassioned lecture to Constable Lestrade on the dangers of indiscriminate shooting at unidentified targets.
At least now he asks me for permission and grinds his gun against the wall.
Anyway, I still found myself lacking on the tactical side.
It's a fact of life, a fact that statistics and numbers prove.
It's normal to wait until you're sure you've got it right before you put it into practice.
"But why are you forcing them into this operation..."
Of course, it didn't happen because I wanted it to.
It was all through the will of Lieutenant Ellis.
I could explain to him a hundred times how reckless it was to deploy Lestrade, but he wouldn't listen.
It just so happened that the scene of the crime was a large distribution center that had been ambushed by a gang.
It's a very tricky operation because you have to deal with multiple suspects at the same time, not just a single one.
I heard that the employees of the warehouse were also taken hostage.
The difficulty of the mission increases exponentially when there are hostages to rescue.
You're sending a one-month-old, inexperienced recruit into a situation like this.
"Alice, is this woman really crazy...?"
"Is it because she's new?"
As a series of sighs escaped my mouth, Billy, who was behind the wheel, spoke up.
"Yeah... She's a pain in the ass..."
"But the new one's pretty good, isn't she? I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Well, whatever. Anyway, I heard the suspects are a gang, what's their name, Mephisto?"
"Mephisto's gang, they've only recently started operating in the slums. They're new, so we don't have much information on them."
"I see..."
As I listened to Billy's explanation, I checked the suspect information file I'd been handed earlier.
There are currently seven suspects on the scene.
All of them are armed, and all of them are wearing white hoodies and digital masks that cover their entire faces.
Many of them were unusually large, with what appeared to be combat implants all over their bodies.
These are clearly not legally available products.
They were probably getting cheap knockoffs from the illegal medical facilities that litter the favelas.
The difference between a genuine implant and a counterfeit is clear.
In terms of safety, durability, and strength, the real thing wins every time.
I'd rather take out a loan to buy the real thing than get a shoddy combat implant to save a few bucks.
"Well, if they had the credit to borrow, they wouldn't have robbed the warehouse."
"According to reports, the Mephisto gang is targeting a secure container belonging to the Alpine group."
"Alpine group? The same Alpine I know?"
The Alpine group.
A huge defense contractor that, along with Eden Group, made up one of Nova City's three largest corporations.
It sold its own firearms and implants, as well as tanks and fighter jets, all over the world.
Rumored to have close ties to the highest levels of government, the company's insane performance made it very attractive to the military.
Of course, the prices were as astronomical as the performance, but it was worth it.
"What's in the container?"
"I haven't gotten that far. The Alpine Group's security is so tight..."
"If there's military equipment in that damn container, it's a disaster. Have you tried contacting the Alpine Group?"
"I did, but they refused to cooperate. I'm pretty sure there's something important in there."
"Damn. A world where a corporation can casually ignore the demands of the police, damn it."
Now that the cops have their hands full with Nova City's corporate giants, and the higher-ups are looking down their noses at them, the Alpine Group is the one they should be seeking cooperation from?
I'd have to start from the bottom.
As my insides burned with unrelieved frustration, we were getting closer to our destination.
I walked Billy through the approach beforehand.
"When you get to the scene of the crime, don't stop."
"You're breaching with the vehicle?"
"Yes. Put it in reverse and smash through the warehouse door."
"The maintenance team is going to yell at me again."
"I'll get yelled at."
The security door of the warehouse is the equivalent of a tank's front armor.
The thick doors are blast-proof, making it difficult to gain entry using explosives, and the center's own wired security system makes it impossible to hack remotely.
A laser cutter could be used to open the doors, but it would take a long time, giving the suspects time to prepare for the SWAT team's entry.
That leaves only one option.
Vehicle breaching is a powerful way to blow the door off along with the doorframe in one fell swoop, while still having the shock value of surprise.
Once we break through the door with our vehicle, Alpha Team, waiting outside the warehouse building, will rappel in and take out the suspects who have drawn our attention.
Incidentally, the armored transport vehicle I and my teammates are in is equipped with a remote-controlled machine gun turret.
No matter how well armed the suspects are, we're not worried about being outgunned, at least not immediately after the surprise breach.
That is, assuming they don't pull something nasty out of Alpine Group's secure container.
"Get ready, everyone. We'll be on the ground in a minute."
"Aye, sir."
As the massive warehouse building came into view in the distance, I gave the signal to the men in the back seat to get ready.
The plan of action had already been relayed to them.
All that remains is a quick ambush, subduing the suspects, rescuing civilians, and securing the cargo.
"Brace for impact, everyone. Breaching in a moment."
"All hands on deck."
I double-checked the fastening of my own seatbelt and tapped the radio to Lieutenant Ellis.
"This is Bravo-1, ready for breach."
[This is Alpha-1, Alpha Team ready to rappel. Bravo Team will go in first, Alpha Team will follow].
"Confirmed."
All set.
Behind the wheel, Billy stares at the rearview camera screen, his excitement building.
"This is Bravo-1, breaching in three seconds."
[Acknowledged, Bravo-1].
"Three, two, one."
"Shall we go?"
Billy asked me, and I didn't hesitate to answer.
"...Let's fucking go."