• Published 16th Aug 2017
  • 15,833 Views, 3,891 Comments

The Rock in the Gulch - Tatsurou



Maud is raised by Church and Blue Team, in Blood Gulch and beyond.

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Extraordernary

"So those are the terms that have been added," Captain Flowers told Sarge plainly as they met under the newly crafted 'Purple Pony Truce Flag' that Doc was holding, marking the area of the canyon that was dictated to be neutral, negotiation ground. "Is this acceptable?"

"Hmm..." Sarge thought for a time. "Well, I can certainly agree that it is wrong to keep a child that young from their parent...and we will phrase it that way exactly in the agreement. At no time will Maud be prevented from seeing those she sees as parents, nor will those she dubs as parents be prevented from seeing her."

"I see you leave the door open for the possibility she might choose someone else as a parent," Flowers observed. "I somehow doubt it, but then again that is your long term objective here, isn't it?"

"Then we're in agreement?" Sarge asked firmly.

"Absolutely," Flowers agreed. "Doc's already placed orders for enough training rounds to supply both teams for quite some time, no matter what weapons we use."

"I have?" Doc asked surprised, until he saw the way Flowers was gripping his weapon. "I mean, yes, I have!" Doc had no doubt the rounds would get here, and he would just have to take credit for ordering them...for his own sake. Having been brought here by one Freelancer, he knew what one looked like...and they were terrifying.

"Now about the first match..." Flowers began carefully.

"The day after the ammunition arrives and is distributed!" Sarge declared firmly.

"That...doesn't give the troops much time to train..." Flowers pointed out.

"They had their basic training!" Sarge insisted firmly. "Why should they need further training to use training rounds?"

"...fair enough," Flowers allowed warmly. "But while we're waiting for the ammunition to arrive, why don't we try having the troops getting to know each other? I mean, if we'll be in and out of each other's bases-"

"Negatory!" Sarge countered firmly. "The only time we'll be talking to each other is when Maud transfers bases, and then only to her Father! Oh, and if the team that doesn't have Maud loses, they have to pay a forfeit to get their flag back!"

"That sounds like a nice little incentive to excel," Flowers agreed. "Now we just need to wait for the ammunition to arrive-"

"Sir!" Simmons voice cut through on the communicators. "A massive supply of training ammunition just arrived on base!"

"Uh...Captain?" Private Church asked on the Blue band. "Uh...where am I supposed to put all these crates to keep Maud away from them? She thought they were rocks and took a bite of one...and now Tucker's fused to the far wall of the canyon by a massive amount of what looks like crystallized paint splatter."

"Oh my everything..." Tucker added in a groan.

"High noon tomorrow!" Sarge declared firmly as he ran off. "No shots fired before then...and I'll be seeing you begging for mercy by 1300 hours, you dam dirty Blue!"

"...at least I know how to break down the training paint..." Flowers thought to himself as he turned to head to his own base.


At 1100 hours, both bases were in full prep mode for the training battle to come. Everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing...though some understood it less than others. "Sir?" Church asked in confusion. "Why did you assign me as the sniper?" He held the sniper rifle he'd been given nervously.

"Yeah!" Tucker complained. "You said next time, I got the sniper rifle!"

"I said next time we went on a scouting run," Flowers corrected. "And Church has the sniper rifle because he has the best eyes and the fastest reflexes on the team, not to mention is the calmest under pressure after me. So I want him at a high vantage point acting as our spotter, and only taking a shot if he spots someone we aren't taking care of. Understand?"

"So no firing into melee," Church confirmed. "Yeah, I can do that. Pretty sure I can handle a sniper rifle."

"I have full confidence in you!" Captain Flowers confirmed.


At 1200 hours, everyone was in position and the fight began. Church was actually at the very vantage point where he'd first encountered Sarge, the cave Maud had been making behind him. He stared through the rifle as he took in the area, guiding his fellows. "Tucker, the nerdy red guy is close to your position, but he isn't aware of you yet," he said through the comms. "If you're careful, you can get the drop on him. A couple dozen yards north, seven west, six down."

"On it," Tucker declared in response. "Hope Maud's watching. Chicks dig men of action, you know."

"...she's barely out of diapers," Church pointed out flatly. "Metaphorically speaking. And a completely different species from you."

"And the only source of estrogen in this entire canyon, and this is likely to be a very protracted assignment," Tucker countered. "I can be patient."

Church sighted through the rifle, taking aim at Tucker's head. He could always claim a misfire, after all...

"Tucker," Flowers said through the comms, "remember what Church did to Sarge?"

"...right, shutting up sir."

"Thanks Captain," Church offered warmly. "By the way, the Red Leader's pretty close to your position, and it looks like he's got something nasty planned. Pretty sure he knows you're there. Just northeast of the cave in your line of sight."

"The cave, huh?" Flowers murmured. "Okay, I got this. Keep an eye out for Grif, the orange one."

"I thought he was yellow?" Church asked in confusion.

"I thought he was bronze," Tucker offered.

"I thought he was fat," Maud pointed out from behind Church.

"...did you just teleport again?" Church asked curiously.

"Maybe."

"...well, okay you can stay," Church allowed as he searched for Grif. "But if any of the Reds attack this position, you get out."

"Okay."

"Aha!" Church declared as he caught sight of Grif. "I've got you now, Red..." He pulled the trigger, and hit the innocent boulder several dozen yards behind Grif. "Okay, I was a little high there..." His next shot killed the innocent shrub several feet ahead and to one side. "Okay, overcorrected..." He continued to fire, each shot going so wide that Grif apparently decided to stand perfectly still until Church ran out of ammo and had to reload. "Dam it!" Church snapped angrily as he switched magazines. "Why can't I hit him?"

"Stop trying," Maud suggested.

"You saying I should give up?" Church demanded harshly.

"No. Do it."

"I'm trying!" Church growled angrily.

"Don't try. Be."

"...I have no idea what that's supposed to mean," Church pointed out.

"If you fail, they take me," Maud pointed out. "Breathe."

If you fail, they take me. Those words echoed in Church's head. He tried to clear his mind as he breathed in.

Everything around him seemed to slow to a crawl. Grif had started moving forward again, and he seemed to freeze in mid stride. Church shifted the rifle, his own movement slow but not as slow as the world around him. A line of light traced from the barrel of the sniper rifle, showing the path of the bullet. When it lined up with where he saw Grif's head would be when the bullet got there, he pulled the trigger. He watched the bullet slowly leave the barrel, gave it two inches of clearance, then swung to the next target.

Flowers was about to step into the caves. Sarge was about to leap out of them. The angle left a millimeter clearance between the size of the round and hitting Sarge's rock shelter or Flowers' head. He found the clearance. He pulled the trigger. Two inches out, he swung to the third target.

Tucker was leaping down in an attempt to catch Simmons off guard. Simmons had heard him yell, sweeping his weapon up. Tucker was going to be hit. Part of Tucker's anatomy was in the path of the ideal shot. It would classify as non-lethal. It was acceptable. He pulled the trigger. The bullet left the barrel. Church began to exhale.

"Fudge crackers!" Grif screamed out as the shot took him in the head and sent him sprawling.

"WAH!" Flowers screamed as the bullet whizzed by so close he felt the passage.

"Great googly moogly!" Sarge cried out almost immediately after as he fell on his back, his helmet covered in paint.

"My pride!" Tucker screamed out as he was hit.

"My dignity!" Simmons wailed as he was hit with more than just the paint spray.

Church blinked as he took in what had just happened. "...how the furry sprinkles did I just do that?" he asked wonderingly. And why did I say furry sprinkles? he added silently. I was trying to say fucking shit.

"That's...certainly something to investigate," Flowers allowed. "But for now, I think the MVP should go grab the Red flag, wouldn't you say?"

"Wow..." Church murmured in awe. "Thanks Captain!"

"This is unpleasant and humiliating..." Simmons complained as he was dragged haltingly across the ground.

"This is not how teabagging works!" Tucker complained as he struggled to waddle along with the crotch of his armor fused to Simmons' face plate.

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