Everyday Stresses of Kazuki - Sci-Fi Action/Intrigue Webserial

A whizz hit its mark on target... The score counter increased. From 0 to 1. It wasn't impressive. But not many things could impress him, and this was not the type of situation where that impression was expected. Eliza grumbled, gently placing the pistol down on the counter, before slamming a fist into the steel divider...

"Ouch!" Eliza yelled, regaining her posture. She peered at Kazuki with puppy-dog eyes. To no effect. Kaz simply shrugged. He leant against the divider opposite her. The training room seemingly was in a desolate place, a concrete jungle.

'Simulation end,' Kazuki said, watching as the walls and the surfaces all around them came crumbling and morphing down and up. The training room revealed itself as the clandestine and orderly firing range on the Phoenix's Fury. "Take your time, Liz, just grasp the basics before they arrive."

"But... they'll make a mockery of me if I fail..." Eliza said. She slowly picked up the pistol, gently and carefully moving it. She placed her finger on the trigger, facing downwards. Kazuki immediately corrected it, placing her finger straight, parallel to the slide. "Thanks."

"An even greater motivator to hit your shots?" Kazuki sarcastically suggested. "They won't take it personally."

Eliza raised her pistol, placing one hand and shuffling the ear mufflers back into place, then fired. Kazuki didn't even need to look to know that it was a miss. She grumbled even harder this time, acting as if she'd stamp her feet. Uh oh. "Kaz! Why won't you just... You know? Help me aim?"

"If I do, you'll get used to not having to deal with both recoil and steady aiming," Kazuki remarked. "No training wheels."

"Or are you just too embarrassed to get close to me?!" Eliza piqued up. Kaz had an unremarkable reaction to the jive. She chuckled to herself. She playfully remarked, "Maybe there is something more behind all that bravado you put up... I mean..."

Kazuki shook his head. "Not here," he lowered his voice to a whisper.

The doors to the firing range slid open, with various mechanical interlocks wheeling in and out of gas. Eliza placed the pistol down, taking her ear mufflers off and twirling around to the door. Ugh... Kaz grabbed the pistol and switched the safety on. Placing it on the wall mount, Kaz pulled the receiver back so it won't fire.

Heaven and earth can try, but that gun will not fire. Not now. Not in his presence. "Oi, oi! Y'all started without me?!" shouted Amyé, the short, ginger-haired sniper, waving at them. Following her was a collection of personnel Kazuki knew were good at... specific assignments.

Amyé for accuracy. Zymuel for a steady grip. Lilly was a Marine Drill Sergeant. Quinn had a quick reaction.

Limitations were, however, present. He couldn't bring along Martinez or Hosea, two of his best. They were busy running his company whilst he was away. Eliza waved back at them. "Ah, sorry, Kaz just wanted me to get a good grasp of the basics."

Quinn snickered. Amyé caught on quickly as Zym and Lilly conversed with one another.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they said back at the Army Barracks as well!" Amyé laughed. She walked up and patted Eliza on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you're good with us."

Eliza cleared her throat and turned back to the firing range. She peered down slightly. Kaz didn't understand why she looked embarrassed. Kaz merely gave a glance to Quinn, who stiffened quickly at his gaze. "Uh..."

Kazuki narrowed his gaze for a moment. "Never mind." He had Eliza's training to deal with now. He turned back to her. "Now, Liz, remember what I told you?"

"Don't be hard on myself?" she answered, peering to the side at him, her face as red as her eyes. Kazuki nodded.

Lilly chimed in, "If she isn't hard on herself, then she won't be able to get far."

Zym countered, "Your version of 'hard' includes a live firing exercise for a one-kilometre assault rifle headshot in a destabilising war vessel!"

Amyé grumbled, grabbing a sniper off the wall and throwing it into Eliza's hands. She was barely able to catch onto it, holding it awkwardly. Quinn chuckled at the sight. "The fuck? You really giving her a sniper of all things?"

The Sharpshooter nodded. "Yeah?! She has glasses! She might need better magnification to hit her shots," she suggested.

Quinn and Lilly were just about to cut in, but stopped themselves. Kazuki... couldn't find any way to counter that. It was a very good point.

"I... We need to tell Claire immediately," Zym said with all seriousness that his robotic head-voice could produce. "Sober Amyé can be clever!"

Quinn nodded, whilst Lilly looked at the two as if they were a bunch of rowdy kids. "This is a scientific discovery that will... shake the AGENCY to its core," Quinn jokingly remarked, laughing under his breath with Zym.

Lilly grumbled, nudging the two of them in the arms, gesturing towards Kazuki. He merely stared at them. Zym and Quinn quickly silenced themselves.

"Hey, I know how to shoot, alright?!" Amyé jeered back, flexing her muscled arms, reinforced by a steel bracing connected to her exoskeleton.

Amyé makes a good point. Kaz never took in Eliza's shortsightedness. Kaz turned back to her as she peered back at them. Kaz noticed her glasses slowly sliding down her nose. He pushed them back up, slightly. She smiled at the gesture.

Amyé, Zym and Quinn all shared a look whilst Kaz was looking away. He caught it anyway. Lilly sighed. "Alright, sniper it is, come on, let's see your shot." Lilly stepped forward, moving to help Eliza set up the sniper.

Eliza stopped Lilly with a singular hand. "Wait! I know how to do this!" she remarked confidently. She placed the sniper on the counter and... Did nothing. She looked around it and started messing with it. She pulled back its receiver. It... It was a Plasma Sniper. She didn't need to do that.

Kazuki affixed Eliza's sniper with precise and short movements. "It's ready to fire. And don't touch the receiver. It's Plasma..."

Amyé nodded. "Yeah..." she trailed off. "Really don't do that, bunch of my peers in sniper training did - burnt their whole arm off!"

Eliza accidentally fired a shot while shooting her head back at Amyé. The shot had completely surprised most in the room... Eliza stared back at the group... worried. "Sorry..." she muttered. "But... burnt off their whole arm?!" Her face turned from embarrassment to horror.

Lilly smacked Amyé across the back of her head. "Fucking idiot..." She turned to Liz with a gentler tone. "No, it's just some light burns, nothing that can be removed on the spot, but it's a plasma sniper, so—"

"—No recoil!" Amyé interjected, causing Lilly to smack her across the back, sending her aching to the side as she grabbed hold of her exoskeleton. "Ah! Fuck me!"

Quinn shook his head as Zym went over to calm Amyé down. She looked riled up for a fight...

"Alright..." Eliza trailed off. "So... I'm guessing I just look down the scope and shoot?"

Quinn nodded. "Aren't you some rich girl? Surely you must have played some of those shooter games or whatever?"

"Categorically," Kazuki said. Quinn didn't get it, looking at Kaz as if he spoke another language. Lilly stopped Quinn from inquiring any further, probably just sick of his tirades.

Eliza nodded, taking in a deep breath before aiming back down the range.

Kaz leaned in. "Remember, Eliza, it's plasma. It shoots straight, good against shields, but bad against armour."

Eliza nodded once more, mouthing the words. She kept at it, slowly... She placed her finger on the trigger and pulled it back. A straight bolt slammed into the target. A beeping noise came on as the score counter went from 1 to 2. Quinn grinned.

"That's more like it!" Quinn shouted. Amyé peered over Quinn's shoulder, followed by Zym.

"See! She's destined to be a sniper!" Amyé remarked.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Kazuki shot back, "This is for self-defence. If worst comes to worst, I want Eliza to be prepared."

Such a statement stunned all members in the crowd, except Eliza. She placed the sniper down, celebrating to herself with a grin and fistbump to Kaz... He didn't receive it. She turned, staring at everyone staring at Kazuki.

Zymuel broke the silence, "Hah... Alright?" He seemed confused. "Sure? Self defence... Why don't you teach her the basic CQC brief, then?"

Lilly gestured with her thumb to Zym. "I know all the manuals, both private and military, off by heart. If you want her to learn self-defence, then you should have just said that from the start! Amyé's shit in CQC!"

Amyé struck back, hitting Lilly in the side to no effect. "Fuck you, too!"

"Oh..." Eliza trailed off.

Kazuki didn't answer.

Zym started to drag Amyé away. "I'll uh... see us out, then?" he asked. Kazuki nodded. "Alright, good luck on the CQC!"

Quinn looked back at Amyé, ready to go. He nodded to Zym. "And good luck to you," he said. Zym and Amyé left the firing range, as Quinn chuckled to himself.

It caught Lilly's ire. "What did you do now?" she asked.

He waved his hand out, showing a random bolt. It had Amyé's name engraved on it. The sight sent Lilly into a rage... She grabbed onto Quinn's collar. "Do you know what the fuck you just did, corporal?!" she bellowed at him.

Eliza shook and cowered back in fear... She slid slowly to Kaz. He gave him a reassuring glance.

"Huh?!" Quinn seemed confused about what he had done wrong. It was very obvious. Too fucking obvious. He just stole the 'bullet with her name on it'. Kazuki sighed.

"Get the fuck out of my sight! Go back to Amyé and give that back to her and beg for her forgiveness, do you understand me?!"

"YES, CAPTAIN!" Quinn returned, his body snapped straight. He then clicked his boots. Turning left, Quinn rushed out of the firing range.

Lilly grumbled, placing a hand to her forehead. "Fucking idiots... Amyé's going to skin him alive if she finds out."

"Wuh?" Eliza blurted out.

"It's good luck for snipers," Kazuki remarked. Eliza turned to him, confused, her rose-red eyes staring back at his. "Bullet with a name on it."

"It's superstition, that's what it is!" Lilly said, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

Even if it was superstition, enough snipers believed in it. Always rely on men to be the stupid ones... Coming up with fake stories to clutch to themselves so dearly.

"Ah..." Eliza nodded, as if she understood it. "Well, many of my peers had lucky charms and stuff for their NATs, so... I suppose it just runs across all of humanity?" she suggested.

Lilly shrugged. "Whatever... Kazuki, you gonna train her?" she asked.

Eliza looked at Kaz with excitement... He met her excitement with a dead gaze. He turned back to Lilly. "No."

"No?" Lilly raised an eyebrow. She then pointed at herself and laughed under her breath. "Me?! You want me to train her?!"

Kazuki pointed at her with a burnt and scarred finger. The fragmentation wounds and scars around his eyes all stabbed in towards his golden eyes. "You. Train her."

"Wait, why?!" Eliza raised her voice.

Lilly nodded as well. "Yeah! Why me?! You're closer to her, plus you were trained by Hartius... oh..." She trailed off.

Eliza glanced back and forth between Kaz and Lil. "Huh?"

Gently lowering her hand on Eliza's shoulder, Lilly nodded to her. "Eliza, maybe it's best that I do train you."

Eliza turned back to Lilly, confused. "Wait, why are you supporting him now all of a sudden?!" Lilly tugged at her collar, looking at Kazuki. Best that he explain it. Kaz knew Hartius.

"Eliza," Kazuki started, attracting her attention. "I am a living database of information. I output what I have taken. Hartius is the user of the Death Hazard, Heptagia, First of the Seven Mercs. If I train you, I will teach you what he taught me. To you."

Eliza's face quickly soured at the prospect, bowing and nodding. "Perhaps it's not a bad idea to be under Lilly, then?" she asked. "Well… What about drones? I've used them before, right?"

"Yeah… We'll need to ask Kiri about that." Lilly scratched her brown hair. "Members of the Seven can be a bit rough when it comes to... training other people." She gave Kazuki a good glance.

And to everyone's surprise, Eliza hit the bullseye. Huh? Lilly stared scornfully as the drones Eliza controlled hit their targets.

"That's cheating, and you know it!" Lilly grumbled.

"I doubt the enemy would care if we're cheating or not," Kiri replied, patting Eliza on the head before gently caressing her personal drones. "Good shot, boys."

Eliza nodded. "I think I have the hand of things!" she exclaimed, vigour and excitement brewing within her chest. "Right, Kazu?"

The calling of such a personal name struck Kazuki dead for a moment. He slowly coughed, gulping and nodding. "Good job. But remember, in most situations you won't have a clean shot. They'll be firing back. Be ready for that."

Eliza grumbled at the wave of remarks. Kazuki was confused. Lilly was too - but Kiri was merely chuckling beneath her hand. Whatever got Eliza upset, Kazuki didn't care. For now, at least. He glanced back out across the firing range. "You did well. But you won't have a drone on you at all times. Lilly, keep training her."

With his orders executed, Kazuki swiftly turned and left the firing range.

∗ ∗ ∗

The low tropical musics of the Free Systems hung down from the ceiling with each mangled note, gently rippling across the waters of the private pool. "Ugh..." Archius snapped his fingers, his uplink snipping the noise to half. He was enjoying himself on a well-deserved vacation...

There was him, a fuckload of alcohol, the artificial beach... And his uplink. Archius glanced around... He has believed many things, but a beach of this size all localised entirely within Yuki's large suite?

'Pi's been recovered, yes,' another voice spoke, Jasymé. She peered into the suite through a holographic relay, 'lying' down on the beach chair beside Archius... The machines were obviously in the way, though. Archius looked to her, seeing her in all her colour with a solemn mind. 'He was very relieved to finally be back; he kept soaring across the Palace after that for almost half a day.'

Archius shoved his memories down his throat, washing them down with a cocktail. 'Yuki and Kaz kept him locked up most of the time, safety reasons, of course.'

'Why?!' she bellowed out, taking in a deep breath afterwards as the gears connected to her respiratory system shifted with pipes and fluid. 'He's so cuddly and warm, how can he ever harm people?'

'Phoenixes aren't domesticated, they're tamed, Jas, they're related to those space Leviathans that can tear entire ships apart,' Archius remarked. He had to carefully manage his facade and persona, pretty much since he really didn't know how to approach this.... So, Archius allowed parts of a more tame version of himself to speak his words.

She shrugged, taking a cup of tea and drinking it on her side of the galaxy. 'But Pi's different, you see.'

'Tell that to all the people Kaz's been scaring,' Archius jeered. 'He's not particularly good at making friends, still, if you can remember that.'

'Remember?' Jasmyé placed a finger to her chin. 'Of course I remember, I... I...'

Her face contorted to confusion, then to fear...

'Don't worry, Jasmyé, try not to think about it too much, got it?' Archius asked. He sighed beneath his breath. No use trying to get her to remember, is there? Archius could barely lift his eyes to her now...

Merely nodding, she digressed, 'If you say so, I'll do so.' She stretched her arms out. 'You and Kazu went to the ball palace?'

'Still at it,' Archius replied. 'It's nice, a bit suffocating, but it's nice.' He placed his hands behind his head. Stretching his own neck before tugging his tropical shirt together. '

'Aw, did you at least buy some souvenirs for me?' she asked.

Archius paused, his eyes turning left and right before he solidified his mind. 'Uh, yeah...' he lied. He'll have to get on that right after this. Jas didn't see through his lie, as expected, merely returning with a smile. 'There's like a lot of stuff, so it's hard to really choose, so uh... I chose everything?'

He told another lie, hopefully that will help Archius cover his expenses during this operation, since he did have some... quite weird purchases chasing down Noah and Obadiah. Just then, Archius' uplink lit up with a warning... Ugh... He shifted his gaze towards the door.

'I don't mind what it is, just that it's something from you, I guess?' Jasyé said, before turning to the door with Archius. 'Hmm?'

'Seems like time's up,' he said. The information sent was clear, someone of muscular male build, strides and is both deadly and silent. Kaz.

'Aw, oh well, I'll look forward to the gifts,' she said, before flicking her own uplink off. The visage disappeared, leaving Archius all alone. His face fell to a silent spite... He groaned and turned back to the artificial pool in front of him.

"What is it?!" he shouted.

"Meeting," Kazuki returned, stepping into the private pool room. He wore more casual clothes than usual, but not something you'd wear to the beach. "Sato's not happy."

Archius grumbled and shrugged. Kaz stepped forward, standing beside Archius' beach chair.

Sato being happy is something that is not to be expected in any circumstances. "When is she ever happy?" he asked.

"I meant happiness in terms of relativeness. Not objectivity," Kazuki responded. Oh, that makes more sense. What might have pissed her off even more now? Kaz answered his question without even knowing it, "Funds. You..."

"What about me now?" Archius asked.

"A..." Kazuki paused, clearing his throat and crouching down to Archius' level. "A deluxe service at an unsavoury establishment."

"Oh... Just tell Sato that it was work expenses, and that it doesn't fucking concern her, alright?"

Kazuki sighed. "I tried. She wants to ask you directly... Martinez will be in the meeting. I can defend you. But not this time."

Archius continued to grumble. "Fine. Fine, whatever... You'll have my back, though, right?"

"Of course. I sent you on a mission. You did that mission. Sato thinks you did it for pleasure."

"And we both know that is absolute bullshit, right?" he asked.

To everyone around Archius, he has various faces, and he shows only some of them to a select number of people, best to divide what he must show to only those necessary, sadly. Sato has it in her mind that Archius is THAT type of guy.

"Yeah. She doesn't, though," Kaz helped Archius out of the chair. "Let's go."