User blog:Seieireppa/God Eater ∑: The Maxim of Possibility, chapter 6

A new day dawned on the people of Rhizome Duos. Nanako Kawashima awoke with a deep breath and a feeling of renewed determination, for she knew that humanity was on the verge of emergence into a new age. Within a few weeks, Operation Downfall would commence, and humanity would finally be liberated from the chains that had held them down for thirteen years.

But now was not the time for that. Now, Nanako needed to get ready to face the day – Rhizome Duos would today be welcoming a new regiment of God Eaters from a resistance group based out of the ruins of the far-off Saint-Nazaire Branch in France. They had journeyed for weeks to get here, and today marked their arrival and a new phase in preparations for Operation Downfall.

A knock came upon Nanako’s door, snapping her out of her daze. “You may enter,” Nanako called out, as the door opened and discharged Sasha Andersen into the chamber.

“I have arrived as per your orders,” Sasha stated, addressing Nanako as she finished dressing herself. “What was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Nanako turned towards Sasha. “I assume you are aware of the God Eater detachment arriving today from Saint-Nazaire, correct?”

Sasha nodded.

“In that case, I would like you to spend the day until lunchtime at the firing range. The leader of the arriving detachment is known in his home branch as a famed sniper, and I would like to hold a bit of friendly competition between our two groups to strengthen camaraderie between us, especially since this particular God Eater will be working with you and your squad directly. Understood?”

Sasha gave an emphatic response in the affirmative. “I, Sasha Andersen, will lose to no one when it comes to talent and skills as a sniper!”

“Good,” came Nanako’s response. “In that case, go and get ready. I hope for some good results this afternoon!”

Sasha turned and exited Nanako’s room, leaving Nanako herself alone with her thoughts. With the arrival of the detachment from Saint-Nazaire, they would be able to strike decisive blows against the Neo Aragami with minimal direct confrontation and thus minimal loss of life – and the eventual assault on the hive, making up the bulk of Operation Downfall, would certainly have a far higher success rate. Any allies they could take on now would mean that much more aid when it came time to claim humanity’s future back from the Gehenna’s hands.

-

“I understand you’ve come a long way,” Nanako spoke. She was seated at a table in Rhizome Duos’ meeting room, and across from her sat a silver-haired man with gentle features and a crimson short blade-type God Arc at his side.

“Indeed I have,” replied Nanako’s guest. “Our journey from Saint-Nazaire was fraught with peril, and we lost a few good men along the way… but it was worth it to get here, because now is when we will be able to strike directly at the heart of the Neo Aragami and eliminate the source once and for all. For that end, I will gladly lend all my God Eaters to the cause.”

Nanako sipped her tea, setting the clay cup on the table. “Sir Lyrr, I cannot thank you enough for your assistance.”

“No need,” came the reply of the one called Lyrr. “I only do what I must as a member of the human race.”

“Well spoken,” responded Nanako. “Now, would you be so kind as to accompany me to the staging ground…?”

Lyrr nodded, before rising from his seat and following Nanako out of the meeting room.

-

The staging ground, as it was called, was a vast underground chamber far below even the concourse area. It was generally used for mock battles and strategic exercises, but today it would play host to a different sort of spectacle.

When Nanako and Lyrr arrived at the staging ground, what they found waiting for them was Sasha, standing surrounded by a half-circular formation of all the God Eaters and civilians currently residing at Rhizome Duos. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to see what was about to go down.

“You must be the new guy,” Sasha called out, tossing Lyrr one of the two sniper rifles she had at her side. “We’re gonna be having us a little friendly contest. I assume you wouldn’t object?”

Lyrr shook his head as he caught the gun Sasha threw at him. These were no God Arcs; rather, they were ordinary – if high-powered – sniper rifles, generally used for practice exercises or range training. So these were what they’d be using today? Lyrr fingered his collar and took a breath. No little girl would show him up.

“The guns you’ve been given have been outfitted with live ammo for the purposes of this demonstration,” explained Nanako, motioning to two sets of seven targets each at the far end of the staging ground, placed at differing distances and elevations. “Each of you will take it in turns to fire on these targets. Points will be awarded based on three categories: speed, accuracy, and technique. Are there any questions?”

Both Lyrr and Sasha shook their heads. “I’ll show you that here in Rhizome Duos, there’s no one who can out-snipe Sasha Andersen!” proclaimed Sasha, as she took her position. “I hope you don’t mind if I go first?”

“No… it’s fine,” replied Lyrr. If he was to be working directly with this girl, he wanted to see what she could do.

Sasha crouched and aimed her rifle at the left-most target. She had spent weeks perfecting this technique, and now seemed like as good a time as any for it to make its debut.

Time seemed to slow down as Sasha squeezed the trigger faster than the eye could see, unloading seven rounds so quickly that the onlookers heard only a single shot. Sasha’s shooting skills were top-notch, and this was all too apparent as each of her seven shots found their mark with complete accuracy.

A hushed pause fell across the onlookers. Sasha might very well be the best sniper in the British Isles, and perhaps the entire world – a title which may very well be decided in the next moment, as Lyrr stepped up to the range.

“Since I can’t exactly let myself be shown up, I think I’ll up the ante a bit,” proclaimed Lyrr, before ejecting his rifle’s magazine of all but a single bullet. “If I don’t hit all of my targets with this one round, consider this contest my loss. I take it that’s fine with you, Miss Sasha?”

“I mean, yeah, it’s fine with me,” came Sasha’s reply, “but are you sure you can manage this? Hitting seven targets with only a single round? Good luck, man.”

Lyrr steeled himself, his finger resting on the trigger. “Luck? Please… this is all skill!”

And with that, the trigger was pulled, and a single round exited the barrel on a trajectory towards the targets.

What happened next could only be described as miraculous, but was in fact entirely deliberate. The bullet hit the first target before ricocheting off, penetrating the second target and hitting the third, at which point it spun off at an angle and hit the fourth target backwards with the butt of the round, causing it to change orientation upon impact and ricochet again to strike the fourth and fifth in quick succession. It reflected again at an angle and struck the sixth target on the upper edge, causing the round to fly up into the air where, after a brief second of held breath, it came back down and hit the seventh and final target before clattering to the ground, its journey complete.

The crowd was silent, before erupting into thunderous applause. No one could believe what they had witnessed, but witnessed it they had. To say that this man’s sharpshooting skill was on a divine level would be an insult. With Lyrr on their side, Nanako knew, they would be able to crush the Neo Aragami like never before.

“Erm, well…” Nanako began, dumbfounded. “By all rights, Sasha gets full points for all three categories, but…”

Sasha interjected. “Oh please, Nanako. We both know who won this.”  Sasha, in spite of her near-superhuman levels of skill with a sniper rifle, could never hope to come close to what the man called Lyrr was capable of. Sasha even half-expected Lyrr’s single round to have been a blank, just to add insult to injury, but no; his skill was genuine, and similarly genuine was the boon he provided to Rhizome Duos’ forces.

Nanako stepped forward and offered her hand, a gesture which Lyrr returned.

“Welcome to Rhizome Duos, Lyrr.”