The CDR team was amazed when they walked into the hospital room. Even though they were definitely exhausted—Andrew could smell APE grease on them—their bright faces was a complete contrast. “Holy shit, Sergeant… you’re cooking him!”
The Sergeant chuckled as her fingers fiddled with the controller. Her artificial hand, once uncontrollably strong, worked perfectly with the fragile plastic. “I guess I still got the skills. Decades later, and Black Ops II is still the best game.”
Another shot. Another kill.
“Fucking hell!” Gutierrez looked like he was ready to throw his controller on the ground. “How the hell am I losing to robocop over here?!”
“Nah, unc!” Singh laughed. “You’re just washed!”
In any case, the Sergeant’s recovery was almost miraculous. It had only taken a couple weeks for her to have a decent proficiency with an artificial eye and arm. But honestly, the team was just glad to see that she was alright. “I thought you were gonna be as depressed as Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump.”
“He lost his legs though,” Kang countered.
“Close enough. I just thought she was gonna get all depressed.”
The Sergeant chuckled. “I’m fine. If you wanna thank anyone, thank Doctor Shiro and the lab guys. As weird as they are, my recovery would’ve been impossible without their neuron restructuring and the Stem-cell integration. It’s thanks to them that this arm feels more like my old one.”
Kang nodded. “I’m glad to hear that. But, of course, we’ll need proof that you’re ready to go back to the field.” He handed her a clipboard. The branding at the top and bottom indicated that it was straight from the Chief. “They want a test due by the end of the week. I was thinking we could help you recover until then, so we could get it done last–”
“I’ll do it right now,” the Sergeant said.
The team blinked at the same time. “What?”
“I said, I’ll get it done right now.” The Sergeant got out of bed and easily stood on her two feet. She went so far as to start stretching her good arm and legs. “So where do we go for the test? Want me to start right now?”
The team looked amongst each other, though nobody knew what to expect. It was less like shared agreeance, and more like shared confusion. “Alright…” Kang muttered. “I suppose we’ll need to discharge you first.”
***
The first test was the physical portion. Being that her arm had been literally replaced, they took her to the gym for specific exercises. They had plenty of people staring at them, specifically at the Sergeant’s metal arm and eye.
“First test is a bench press. Think you can do that?”
“Sure.”
Without another word, she loaded up the bar with two plates on both sides. She went under, took a breath, and pumped the weight on and off of her chest. There wasn’t even enough time for a spotter to come up—not like she needed one.
The Sergeant did about ten reps or so. By the end, she put the bar back up, only to start benching with only her metal arm. “My good arm won’t be able to keep up with this one,” she casually said. Ten reps in, she didn’t even break a sweat. “I think I could do this one all day.”
She had made her point. She reracked the weight and ignored the amazed faces watching her. “What’s the test?”
Kang scrambled through the pages. He wrote down the numbers in scribbled ink. “Okay… looks like we can check if you can do some heavy bag work. Just to see if your punches are back–”
The Sergeant went over to the bag and threw a single punch. Her metal arm went right through the bag without issue. “Hm. It’s like if my arm was an APE in itself.” She pulled her arm out like Arthur’s sword, except with far more ease. The Sergeant looked like she was also surprised.
In short, the Sergeant was back to perfect health as she crushed every single test. By the time they left the gym, the rest of the team looked more exhausted than she did. “What’s next?”
They drove her over to the range, where they staged a rifle, a machinegun, and a pistol. “The test is to see how good your hand-eye coordination is,” Kang explained. “Whevever you’re ready.”
No more words were necessary. She got on the rifle, loaded in a magazine, and cocked it. “Range is hot!”
She pulled the trigger with the metal arm without issue. Andrew was worried that her hand would accidentally snag unconsciously, but that never happened. She might as well be using her old hand. “Need me to do a stop drill?” she asked.
“Go ahead.”
The Sergeant shot each target with two to the body and one to the head. It was an almost rhythmic sound: two body, one head. Like some kind of violent metronome, she basted each target with three perfectly aimed shots.
Gutierrez whistled out of amazement. “Damn, chica’s shots have even less recoil. That arm’s compensating real nice.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Maybe we should all get our arms eaten off,” Singh laughed. “Except I’d lose my tattoo.” She pulled up her sleeve to reveal the CDR-4 mascot on her bicep: demonbusters.
“Just get a tattoo for a metal arm,” Gutierrez joked. “You just gotta weld it on.”
The next weapons had similar levels of perfection. The machinegun was loaded with a fresh belt before blasted downrange. At a certain point, she picked it straight up and fired it from the hip. “As I said!” she yelled over the gunfire. “It feels like the same strength as an APE!”
Shooting the pistol was equally easy. She one-handed it with her metal arm and let it ring. It looked almost like a toy, since her arm easily dampened the recoil without problem. At that point, Andrew felt sorry for whatever demon she had to face.
***
If it wasn’t obvious enough, the Sergeant had passed with flying colors. She had been approved by the Chief, and got to lead them once more. Everyone in CDR-3 was amazed when they saw Sergeant Yang step back into the shop.
“Holy fucking shit…”
“Wait, that’s her?”
“I thought she got her arm eaten off!”
Sergeant Horrigan chuckled as she shook hands with Sergeant Yang. “I heard they offered a golden ticket to you: retirement with prosthetics still attached. Maybe you’re dumber than I thought.”
“Nah, the real idiot would’ve thought I’d have a real choice,” Sergeant Yang chuckled. “They’d find a way for me back in. I’m sure they always would.”
“Anyway,” Sergeant Horrigan laughed as she patted her on the back. “Good to see that you’re back. I’ve seen your demonbuster boys back in here so often, I thought they’d replace you for good. But I guess you won’t stop until you drop.”
The rotation was promptly done and CDR-4 went back to their bunks. At least this time, Smith didn’t see a nasty letter in his bed. In fact, the bunk was perfectly made without so much as a wrinkle. “Did that crazy bitch iron the sheets?!”
“Maybe Park is trynna get back with you,” Singh joked as she stuffed her bag underneath her bunk.
“Be careful,” Gutierrez said with his missing-toothed smile. “Maybe you’ll come back from a long shift, slip into your sheets, before… BAM! Wake up to your waist blown up by a hidden bomb.”
Smith scoffed as he shook his head. “Gutierrez, I don’t understand half the shit that goes through your head, or how you imagined it.”
“Imagine? Oh, I wish. Shit happened to my cousin, ya’ know. He fucked with some cartel daughter and woke up with a claymore in his face.” Gutierrez said it with so much matter-of-factness that Andrew almost believed him. Then he remembered that it was Gutierrez. “Nah, I’m just fuckin’ with ya’. She just shot him in the street, like a real Latina.”
Kang lightly banged on the door. “Lock up the chatter. It’s time for Sergeant to brief us for the week.”
Everyone filed out of the barracks and met back up in the shop. The Sergeant already looked swamped in paperwork, despite this being her first day back on the job. It seemed that as soon as higher heard of her recovery, they decided to send every single email, report, and form her way.
“Welcome back,” the Sergeant called. “I’d say you guys had a good rest, but I know that wasn’t the case. I’m at least happy to know that if I were to die, you guys could survive without me. Except you, Cheng. If you fight like you play COD, we’re dead.”
The team chuckled as one. It was the first laugh they all shared in a while. “What’s the secret to the recovery?” Singh asked. “Did you drink enough hot water or something?”
The Sergeant gave her usual scythe-like smile. “Video games, stress balls, and Cheng to keep pushing me. I’d have kicked him out the first day, but I knew he’d be too damned stupid to quit.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we figured.” Even Andrew couldn’t disagree, as shoulder punches and back slaps came along his way.
“Anyway, we’re back-in-business,” the Sergeant continued as she turned on the projector. In the center of her presentation was a pentagram as well as plenty of news articles. “Looks like the Pentagramists have still been getting active. They claim that our last hit was the Beast of Gluttony, but they also claim that it was just a setback.”
Smith snickered. “A setback? Sergeant, you melted his insides with thermite.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I did. But considering how active this group has been, even after we killed their beloved demon, I’d still pay close attention. You guys should remember that we failed to kill the Beast of Wrath.”
Andrew sighed as he sat back. He had plenty of trouble trying to forget that day, even with plenty of missions behind him already. Even compared to the Beast of Gluttony, that armored bastard must’ve been the strongest demon they’ve faced. And the worst part was that Andrew could tell it was holding back.
“Man, why’re they going after New Changan of all places?” Singh sighed.
“For real,” Gutierrez chuckled. “They could’ve chosen Cleveland, New York, or even Beijing, but them mo’ fuckas chose New Changan.”
Kang raised his hand, like the usual student who had all the answers. “New Changan is a modern city with one of the highest population and capital growth rate. Even world celebrities and businesses are coming to this city in droves. With such migration, attention to any local terror group would be inevitable.”
That seemed to make enough sense. Now that Andrew thought about it, none of them were born in this young city, even though they were fighting damn hard to protect it—though to be fair, they were probably just protecting other newcomers.
“Standby for anything more serious,” the Sergeant ordered. “Before, our primary concern was clearing out demons while trying to protect lives and property, but the stakes are getting a whole lot higher. If there really are seven powerful demons, including the one I killed, then we’re in for a whole lot more. Gutierrez, we’re gonna try getting you some more breaching tools. Kang, we’ll get you more weapons. As for the rest, be ready for anything new. Any questions?”
Nobody raised their hands. Gutierrez yawned, “Good to go, Sar’nt.”
Then, with perfect timing, the sirens blared and the team scrambled. “Fucking hell!” Smith scoffed. “I just wanted one week where nothing happens, and the best we can do is this!”
“Relax,” the Sergeant relayed as she received a report from Command. “Looks like it’s a standard op.” Without further complaints, the team entered the vehicle and drove back off. No rest for the wicked.