09:10
Bravo Squad House, New Eden
Everyone was in Jacob's room. He was lying on the bed while Sohel was putting an ice pack on his forehead. Annabelle was sitting in a chair and Naomi was leaning to the wall looking through the window. Sohel handed over the ice pack to Jacob and got up. He looked towards Naomi and asked, "Are you alright? I don't think you should be standing up right now."
Naomi says, "Don't worry about me. I'm OK."
Sohel shrugs and asks Annabelle, "So, What are you going to do now? The three of us will be joining Maj. Lopez's training camp starting tomorrow. But he got nothing for you as you're a non-combatant."
Annabelle replies, "I guess I'll take a look at the tech of the SNA. I've got permission to upgrade our gear as long as it's approved by you. But that's for tomorrow. "
She looks at Jacob and back and says, "I don't think this idiot's getting up today. Wanna hang out? We got the whole day to ourselves."
Sohel thinks for a moment and says, "That doesn't seem like a bad idea. Let's go for a ride around the island. You coming, Naomi?"
Naomi turns to the door and leaves saying, "I....I'm not feeling very good. So, I'm going to rest in my room. You guys can go."
Sohel and Annabelle were dumbfounded seeing the sudden change in her behavior but they don't think much of it and leave the house.
15th January 2030
08:30
Training Ground-04, New Eden
Annabelle Jacob and Naomi were standing in a file facing towards Maj. Lopez. The Maj. had a tablet in his left hand. He started talking, "I've taken a look at all your past test records and I'll say I'm quite impressed. I didn't know that two of you were record holders. And Jacob, I guess I was too harsh on you yesterday. I've learned about your ability to control an LMG's recoil like it's nothing. I should've noticed it yesterday."
Hearing this a smug look came on Jacob's face. Seeing this the major said, "But the fact remains that you're dumb. You could've approached the fight in a way better way."
The smug look disappeared as fast as it appeared. The Maj. then started talking in a dominating voice, "Fighters of the Bravo squad, from today onwards you'll be part of a training camp that will go on till the end of February. This camp will focus on each of your weaknesses. Sohel Chowdhury, you'll train your muscles. Naomi Kobayashi, you'll train to improve your shooting. As for Jacob, you're going back to the classroom. You need to get some strategic thinking inside your head. Of course, you'll continue to train your other abilities. You can't let them be rusty."
Like that, their 44-day training camp started. Sohel and Naomi sweated their lives in the field while Annabelle kept developing new tech for the team. As for Jacob, he tore his hair off trying to get those strategies in his head.
28th February 2030
15:00
Training Ground-04, New Eden
The four of them are standing in a file facing towards Maj. Lopez. Maj. Lopez observes them for a while and starts talking with a satisfied look on his face, "Bravo Squad, good job on completing my training camp. I can see you've gotten a lot better from the statistics. Sohel, your punches now can actually do some damage. Naomi, you now only miss half your shots. Annabelle, I've seen your upgrades on ARIA. you actually did make her semi-sentient. As for you Jacob...."
Jacob looks at Major expecting to hear some praise.
"Sorry to say, but as I see from what you wrote in yesterday's test, you're still as dumb as ever. For real, who the fuck thinks setting up mines on a road for a rescue operation is a good idea. What if you blow up the vehicle the person you're supposed to rescue is?"
Jacob opens his mouth to say something but stops feeling everyone's disappointed gaze at him.
Maj. Lopez continues, "I look forward to your exam the day after tomorrow. Give it your all. Remember, You'll receive your ranks and callsigns based on that test. Take some rest tomorrow and prepare yourselves. Dismissed."
As everyone was leaving, Maj. Lopez calls out to Sohel and tells him to meet him in his office. Sohel nods and follows him to his office. The maj. tells him to sit and he sits in front of him across the table. The Maj. starts talking, "Sohel, you got some good teammates right there. If you can utilize them well I believe you'll be unstoppable. But what do you think about Naomi?"
Sohel was caught off guard by that question. He said, "I don't know. At first, when I talked to her after many tries, she had this weird repelling aura around her. But after that fight the other day, her attitude towards us completely changed. Now whenever we try to talk to her she replies awkwardly and if we ever ask her to hang out with us she gives an excuse and runs away."
The Maj. thinks for a moment and says, "You should talk to her. She may just be a little anti-social. But if all of your comrades don't have good chemistry with each other, it will negatively affect your performance as a team greatly."
Sohel nods and says, "I'll try."
He gets up and takes his leave.
02nd March 2030
00:49
Bravo Squad House, New Eden
Sohel wakes up from thirst. He reaches out to his bedside table but doesn't find any water bottle. He reluctantly gets up and gets out of his room. As he was getting back to his room after drinking water from the kitchen he noticed the door to the roof was open. He goes up to close the door but stops seeing Naomi standing on the roof leaning on the railing looking somewhere far. He stops for a moment then goes outside. He stands next to Naomi and asks, "Can't sleep?"
Naomi gets spooked by the sudden voice and takes a fighting stance. Seeing this Sohel says, "Woah, woah, same side."
Naomi calms down and leans on the railing again. Sohel follows. She asks, "Why are you here?"
"I noticed an open door. And when I came to close the door I stumbled upon a night owl."
"I'm not a night owl."
After a moment of silence, Naomi says, "Sohel, can I ask you something?"
"Of course. I'll answer if I can."
"Why did you join the army?"
"My dad was in the army. Once I asked my dad why he joined the army. He replied he wanted to protect the people. That stayed with me I guess. Why did you join the army?"
"My reason isn't as noble or pure as yours. It's more of a selfish objective"
"If you don't want to, then I wouldn't push."
"It's not like I don't want to."
"Then, can you tell me?"
"Five years ago someone really precious to me suddenly left me. He joined the NWO. I trained hard from then on so that I could become an SNA specialist so that I could find and meet him again."
"What will you do when you meet him?"
"I'll ask him why he did that. And try to turn him back. That's a petty reason, isn't it?"
"It isn't if he was someone really precious to you. Another question, Why are you so hostile towards us?"
"I...….. At first, I thought you guys were just a bunch of fakes riding on the success you once got by luck. But then I understood you guys were actually good."
"So…..why still avoid us?"
"I didn't want to avoid you guys. I.....I just thought you guys wouldn't want to be my friends after how I behaved with you at first."
"None of us are the type to hold grudges, you know? If you just stop avoiding us, we would be happy to have you as our friend. After all, we are bound to be together until we die or retire."
Both of them stayed silent for a moment. Sohel then said, "So...…are we friends now?"
Naomi laughs, "Maybe."
Naomi turned back and left saying, "Let's go to sleep. We gotta give our all tomorrow."
Sohel nods but he didn't notice Naomi was blushing as she went down the stairs.