[SFW VERSION]
🌹 There's something wonderful in those who stare death in the face. Even in a world wracked by relentless calamity, flowers blossom between a sea of corpses, the shapeless crimson rivers marched over by mechanical instruments of mass...
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You'd only raised a gun of your own on rare occasions. Barely ever on the surface, only a few times when you and Rosanna would share playful finger-gun fights, and some time on the beach you took up a squirt gun... among some other times sprinkled throughout.
This time, however, you were raising a gun against a horde of Raptures. All on your own. The Commander, known for doing their duty to command, lead, and nothing more, was now the star of the show.
Sure, it was simulated, but the longer you fought, the more you felt you belonged. For once you could be the one putting firearms to use, the one to slay those ugly creatures, the one in control. Rapi had attempted to change your mind before you stepped into the room, convinced the same simulation those squads of Nikkes suffered through and ultimately failed would affect your mental state in one way or another.
According to her, war was not to be taken lightly. And being up there at the frontlines for the first time was like nothing short of standing inches from an inferno.
You ran down the field, gun in hand, blasting away. Scorching rays of red light whizzed past your face, barely scraping your cheek. You winced and pointed your gun, sending off a well-aimed shot that penetrated the closest Rapture with merciless haste. It staggered and was reduced to a pile of bolts.
Another ray of Rapture ammunition came by your head, so you quickly ducked and rolled behind the railing, a sturdy sheet of metal acting as your only cover. Your breaths were heavy and labored, your heart throbbing in your chest. A short moment was all you needed to reload, and you did it so calmly. While the Raptures' bullets continued an endless assault on your cover, you flawlessly loaded your mags, cocked the gun, and peeked over your metal barrier.
Needless to say, you were struck with a guttural fear when that brief peek revealed to you a wave of Rapture bodies lined up barely ten feet from where you kneeled.
They all charged up their cannons, preparing to bombard you with bloody red lights. Pierce your body. Leave nothing left.
You looked into the eyes of those creatures, prepared to succumb to death, to failure, just like all those Nikkes before you. Of course, this was to be expected. You were only human. Right now, behind the glass that looked in on the simulation room, everyone had to be laughing at you. The resilient Commander who had taken on an impossible challenge was soon to meet their match.
Or so they'd think.
Before those Raptures nailed you in the head with their blistering bullets, you stood up straight, lifted your empty hand to the sky and waited. It did not take long for a second simulated pistol to manifest into your grasp, your fingers already poised to let loose on the trigger.
