D Tier

**[Scene: HSI Training Facility – Promotion Matches]**

*The training room hums with energy as recruits spar, sweat dripping, fists flying. A digital scoreboard flickers with names and tiers. Mia stands in the center ring, rolling her shoulders as a **D-Tier Combat Droid** powers up across from her. Its optics gleam cold blue.*

**Announcer (over PA):** *"Next match: Recruit Mia versus D-Tier Standard. Winner advances. Fighters ready?"*

*Mia bounces on her toes, exhales.*

**Mia:** "Let’s get this over with."

**Droid (mechanical, taunting):** *"Compliance: You will lose."*

**DING.**

**[Round 1 – Speed vs. Calculation]**

*The droid lunges—Mia sidesteps, but it anticipates, sweeping her legs. She hits the mat hard.*

**Droid:** *"Error: Adjust stance."*

*Mia grits her teeth, rolls clear of its next strike. The crowd murmurs. Tally leans over the railing.*

**Tally:** "It’s reading your tells, dumbass! Switch it up!"

*Mia feints left, then jabs right—her fist glances off the droid’s armored plating. No damage.*

**Droid:** *"Ineffective."*

**[Round 2 – Adaptation]**

*Mia circles, breathing ragged. The droid’s patterns click: it counters aggression with precision, but hesitates on defense.*

*She fakes a stumble. The droid steps in—*

**Mia (grinning):** "Gotcha."

*She drops low, sweeps its legs, and drives an elbow into its core panel. Sparks fly.*

**Droid (glitching):** *"Wa-rning: Sys-tem—"*

*Mia slams her palm into its chest. **CRACK.** The droid powers down.*

**Announcer:** *"Match concluded. Winner: Mia. Promotion to D-Tier authorized."*

**[Aftermath – The Board Updates]**

*The scoreboard flickers. **MIA – D-TIER** flashes in bold. The room erupts—some cheers, some grumbles.*

**Dax (clapping slowly):** "Congrats. Now you get the *real* bad missions."

**Tally (grinning):** "And worse droids."

*Leia watches from the balcony, arms crossed. She nods once. Mia nods back.*

**Jace (offering a water bottle):** "So… celebration at the mess hall?"

**Mia (cracking her knuckles):** "Nah. I’ve got a C-Tier to hunt."

**[Scene: HSI Briefing Room – Midnight]**

*The holographic map flickers—a rundown apartment complex in the **Redline District**, marked with a single red dot.*

**Leia (tossing a dossier to Mia):** *"Target: Viktor Rask. Ex-Brotherhood enforcer, now selling HSI secrets to the Razor-Kings. Extract the data chip in his skull. No witnesses."*

*Mia picks up the file. The photo shows a scarred man with a cybernetic eye. Her stomach tightens.*

**Mia:** *"Solo?"*

**Leia:** *"You’re D-Tier now. Act like it."*

**[Scene: Redline District – Rooftop Approach]**

*Rain slicks the rooftops as Mia crouches near Viktor’s apartment. Her earpiece crackles.*

**Tally (over comms):** *"Scanner shows two guards—both ex-Brotherhood. Lethal loadouts. And, uh… he’s got a *dog*. Big one."*

**Mia (muttering):** *"Fantastic."*

*She slips through a vent, dropping silently into a closet. Through the slats, she sees Viktor at his desk, slotting a data chip into his neural port.*

**Viktor (growling to himself):** *"Stupid HSI brats… should’ve burned their HQ when I had the chance."*

**[Scene: The Kill]**

*Mia steps out. The *click* of her safety disengaging is too loud.*

**Viktor (freezing):** *"...The hell?"*

*She fires. The bullet punches through his cybernetic eye—but he lunges anyway, grabbing her wrist. They crash through the desk. The dog *barks*, fangs bared.*

**Mia (grunting, knee to his ribs):** *"Just—*die*—already!"*

*Viktor’s grip falters. She presses the gun under his chin.*

**BANG.**

*Silence. The dog whimpers, backing away.*

**[Scene: Extraction – Bloodied Hands]**

*Mia pries the data chip from Viktor’s skull. Her hands shake. The dog watches her, tail tucked.*

**Tally (over comms):** *"Mia? Status."*

*She hesitates. Looks at the dog. At Viktor’s corpse.*

**Mia:** *"...Mission complete."*

**[Scene: HSI Debrief – Cold Light]**

*Leia examines the chip under a scanner. Doesn’t look up.*

**Leia:** *"Took you twelve minutes longer than projected."*

**Mia (flat):** *"The dog slowed me down."*

*Leia finally meets her eyes. A beat.*

**Leia:** *"Next time, put it down too."*

*Mia says nothing. The door hisses shut behind her.*

**[Scene: HSI Headquarters – Garage Entrance – Dawn]**

*Mia steps out of the shadows, her boots splattered with rain and blood. Behind her, a massive, scarred **Rottweiler** limps on three legs, its fur matted with grime. It growls at the guards.*

**HSI Guard (raising his rifle):** *"What the hell is that?"*

**Mia (exhausted, wiping her face):** *"New recruit."*

**[Scene: Leia’s Office – The Debrief]**

*The dog sits warily in the corner, licking a gash on its paw. Leia stares at it, then at Mia.*

**Leia (flat):** *"You brought a *dog* into a classified facility."*

**Mia (slumping into a chair):** *"He was guarding the target. Good instincts. Figured HSI could use that."*

*Leia’s eye twitches. The dog sneezes on a stack of mission reports.*

**[Scene: Medical Bay – The Checkup]**

*Tally kneels, scanning the dog with a handheld device. It snaps at the light.*

**Tally (grinning):** *"Aw, he’s *adorable*—oh shit, he’s got Brotherhood microchips in his spine. Explains the aggression."*

**Mia (raising an eyebrow):** *"Can you remove them?"*

**Tally (typing furiously):** *"Yeah, but he might just… y’know, *like* biting people after."*

*The dog licks Tally’s face. She freezes.*

**Tally (whispering):** *"...Or maybe he’s just a big softie."*

**[Scene: Mess Hall – The Initiation]**

*The dog—now dubbed **"Rask"** after his dead owner—devours a steak from Dax’s plate.*

**Dax (grumbling):** *"That was *my* lunch."*

**Jace (laughing):** *"Pretty sure you lost lunch privileges when you lost that arm-wrestle to Tally."*

*Rask growls at Dax. Mia smirks.*

**Mia:** *"He’s got a sixth sense for bad manners."*

**[Scene: Leia’s Office – The Verdict]**

*Leia massages her temples. Security footage plays on her screen—Rask dragging an intruding janitor out of the armory by his pant leg.*

**Leia:** *"The *dog* stopped a security breach."*

**Mia (shrugging):** *"Told you he was useful."*

*Leia sighs. Slides a badge across the desk. It reads: **"RASK – K9 SECURITY."***

**Leia (deadpan):** *"He gets *one* incident report a month. And you’re cleaning up after him."*

*Mia grins. Rask barks.*

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