Chapter 111: Black Ops Team
TL.N - Managing to save some Chapters soon will be able to move to 3-4 Chapters a week consistently (Still a whiles away). Also will be changing the pacing of the story because the next 20 or so Chapters is Sekiro reactions and I don’t think people want that, I know I don’t.
"Then... how long will you be gone this time?" Natalie asked softly, her eyes filled with worry.
"I’m not sure," Tony replied after a moment’s thought. "Developing new software isn’t something that happens overnight. It might take a while."
"Huh? That long?" Natalie’s expression fell. "Should I come with you, then?"
"What for?" Tony shot her a look. "It’s a military base, not a vacation. What would you even do there?"
"I could help you relax and... improve your work efficiency?" she said, her voice weak, clearly realizing how bad that excuse sounded.
Tony sighed and waved her off. "Please. The only thing you’ll ’improve’ is my stress level. Just stay home. You can’t just walk into that place like it’s a park."
"But I’ll be alone here..." she said, glancing around the big, empty villa. "It’s scary when it’s this quiet."
"What’s there to be scared of? You’ve got Cortana with you," Tony said, then called out, "Cortana, start up."
"Startup complete," replied the gentle, electronic voice immediately.
"I’ll be away for a while," Tony continued. "Take care of the house and Natalie."
"Understood," Cortana replied. "I’ll make sure everything and everyone here stays safe."
"See? Problem solved." Tony grinned.
"But... Cortana isn’t human," Natalie mumbled nervously.
"Really?" Tony arched a brow. "That’s not very polite to someone who you chat with every day."
"Oh! I’m sorry, Cortana!" she quickly said.
"It’s alright," the AI responded calmly.
Tony chuckled at the sight of her flustered apology. "Relax, sis. If you’re still scared, just invite a few friends over. Or call our parents."
"Forget it, they’re still traveling somewhere. Let them enjoy themselves," Natalie said, pouting slightly.
"Then go with friends," Tony said, before turning to Cortana again. "Also Cortana, if anyone visits the villa, stay silent. Don’t respond."
He didn’t want to risk exposing Cortana’s existence just yet.
"Understood."
The next morning, Tony climbed into Mustang’s car and headed to the airport. His destination was a city in the west. It housed one of the country’s largest military zones.
After hours of travel, he finally arrived, stepping into a world that most civilians only heard about in stories.
Instead of starting work right away, Mustang led him on a tour of the base. They stopped before a row of towering missile launchers, massive steel beasts that gleamed under the sunlight.
"This one’s the M142 HIMARS," Mustang said, pride coloring his tone. "All-weather, self-supporting, precision strike capabilities. Isn’t it something?"
"It’s... big," Tony said honestly. He never imagined he’d see such a thing up close in his lifetime.
Of course, before the trip, he’d signed a thick non disclosure agreement. They wouldn’t have let him in otherwise.
"You’re in luck," Mustang added with a grin. "There’s a live artillery drill today. Want to watch?"
"Sure," Tony said instantly.
A few minutes later, both men stood side by side, sunglasses and earmuffs on, watching as dozens of long-range guns lined the field.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth shook. The air cracked. Dozens of explosions roared across the range.
"How’s that? Impressive, right?" Mustang laughed over the noise. "No matter how many times I see it, it never gets old. That’s what I call a man’s kind of beauty!"
"Yeah," Tony said simply, still caught in the raw power of it. "Cool."
Mustang chuckled. "Though I suppose it’s nothing new for you, huh? After all, you’re the guy who made players fight thousand-meter beasts and blow up the skies in Aurora. This must seem small by comparison."
Tony smiled. "Not quite. My creations are virtual. This is the real thing."
Mustang nodded approvingly. "Still humble, as always. Alright, time to get to work."
He led Tony into a wide training hall. Rows of high-end VR units stood neatly arranged, and dozens of uniformed soldiers stood waiting beside them.
As soon as Tony entered, every pair of eyes turned toward him. Their gazes were sharp, curious, and full of restrained excitement like meeting a celebrity in real life.
At the center of the hall stood an older man in uniform, hands clasped behind his back. His rank insignia gleamed faintly under the lights.
The man smiled warmly and reached out a hand. "Welcome, young man. I’ve heard a lot about your studio, New World. Every soldier here is a fan. They’ve played all your games."
Tony shook his hand, smiling modestly. "You flatter me, sir. I just make games for fun."
"Hah! If that’s ’just for fun, then the rest of us have been wasting our time," the general laughed. "I’m sure Mustang told you why you’re here, we’d like you to tweak Sekiro, turning it into a real training simulator for our troops."
"I understand," Tony said, nodding. "What kind of improvements are you looking for?"
The general glanced toward the soldiers, who immediately began speaking up.
"First off, the game’s too easy," one said seriously. "The enemy AI is predictable, you can just die a few times, memorize their moves, and win."
"Right," another chimed in. "Their attack speed’s too slow, too. We need faster reactions, more randomness."
"Yeah," someone else added, grinning, "and the physical activity’s way too low. Doesn’t even come close to our daily training standards."
Tony couldn’t help laughing helplessly. In the entire world, there probably wasn’t another group of people who could call Sekiro "too easy" and complain that it "didn’t involve enough exercise."
"Go on," he said, motioning for them to continue.
"Also," one of the soldiers added seriously, "you can remove all somatosensory assistance. We don’t need it. Everything should feel exactly like reality."
Somatosensory assistance was a system designed to make movements easier for players, reducing physical strain while still allowing them to pull off visually stunning moves. But these men weren’t looking for style points. Soldiers didn’t care how cool something looked, they cared about whether it worked in real life.
"In addition," another soldier spoke up, "you need to add a pain system. Just basic touch feedback isn’t enough for us to judge real danger."
"...A pain system?" Tony frowned, uncertain if he’d heard correctly.
The old general smiled faintly. "Yes. Our military VR units are far more advanced than the civilian ones. They can simulate pressure, shock, even pain. Better to experience it here than in an actual battlefield. It’s safer to bleed in training than in combat."
Tony nodded slowly. He hadn’t expected the military version of VR to have such intense functionality. These people really were built different.
As the soldiers continued throwing out requests, the old man finally turned to him and said, "So, young man, do you think you can meet these demands?"
"I’ll give it a try," Tony replied. "I’ll record everything you’ve said, make a development plan, and then adjust the systems one by one."
Tuning parameters was easy enough, but building a fully integrated pain system, and designing an entire framework to train both the body and the mind, was no small task. It wasn’t something that could be patched overnight.
"Excellent." The old man nodded. "We also have our own VR developers here. Their skills may not match yours, but they can assist you however you need. If there’s anything you require, contact Colonel Mustang. During your stay, he’ll be your main point of support."
"Understood," Tony said. He couldn’t help but feel a little flattered by the respect in their tone.
"Good. I’ll leave you young people to it, then." The old man smiled and turned to leave.
The moment he stepped out of sight, the entire room shifted.
Every soldier turned their gaze toward Tony sharp eyes suddenly bright with mischief.
Then, all at once, they surged forward.
"Haha! I can’t believe we’re actually meeting him in person!"
"Yeah! You’re way younger than we expected! We thought you’d be in your thirties!"
"We’ve suffered so much because of you! The torment in Sekiro! The nightmares in Silent Hill! Do you even know how miserable we were when our commander ordered us to clear your games?!"
A wave of large, muscular men crowded around him, half shouting, half laughing, and Tony immediately broke into a cold sweat.
"Hey don’t blame me!" he said quickly, hands up. "I didn’t make you play!"
"Haha, that’s true, but it doesn’t matter!"
"Yeah, stick him in a VR pod and make him clear Silent Hill PT, no shortcuts allowed!"
"Good idea!"
"You guys!" Mustang’s voice cut through the chaos like a whip. "The general just left, and you’re already causing trouble? Are you trying to embarrass me?"
The room went still in an instant. The soldiers who had been tossing Tony in the air quickly set him down and snapped to attention like nothing had happened.
"Apologies, Mr. Willis," Mustang said, rubbing his forehead. "They were just teasing you. Don’t take it seriously."
"It’s fine," Tony said with a laugh, brushing himself off. "A little fun helps break the ice."
Still, he couldn’t help but notice that the colonel had nearly called him out too. Fanboy, much?
Mustang smiled faintly. "They may look like a bunch of kids, but when it comes to real missions, I couldn’t ask for a better team. Every one of them is an elite special forces operative."
That made Tony pause. These men, these rowdy, game loving "kids", were special forces?
He looked at them again, and suddenly, their sharp gazes and calm confidence made sense. These were real fighters, people who risked their lives in places the public would never hear about. The best of the best.
Mustang continued, "Since special forces have extremely high physical and mental standards, Mr. Willis, don’t hold back in your design. Be as ruthless as you want."
"Hah! Don’t worry about us!" one of the soldiers said, grinning. "A few tweaks from the bastard can’t scare us. We’ll clear it easy!"
"Yeah!" the rest chorused in unison, their voices booming.
Tony smirked. "Oh? So confident already? Fine, then I’ll make sure you regret those words."
After all, Sekiro was built for ordinary players. It had to balance difficulty with playability. But now? He could unleash something real. Something brutal.
Still... he had no idea how to start.
"By the way," he asked after a moment, "how exactly do you train? If I can understand your routine, I can design the system around it."
"That’s... not something easy to explain," Mustang admitted. "You’d understand better if you experienced it yourself."
He gave a faint, knowing smile. "How about this, I’ll arrange for you to participate in one of our special forces training sessions. After that, you’ll have a clearer idea."
At once, every soldier turned to stare at Tony again smiling, but not kindly this time.
Tony froze.
Oh no.
That didn’t sound like a good idea at all.
TL.N Doing massive edits on next few Chapters to try instead of him making a harder sekiro for the soldiers make it Black ops/Battlefield like.
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