Yuriko didn't know what to expect.
The test site for the Millennium State’s mercenary qualifications was not in the city centre, nor was it the squat building at the very periphery of the city, halfway from the outskirts to the perimeter mountain range. It was a compound hidden within the folds of small hills, ravines, and ridges, and larger than it seemed considering that most of it was probably underground.
Yuriko arrived with her lovers, along with Saki, Devotee, and Ryoko. Fluffington was in his puppy form and perched inside her backpack, yawning. He had the tilted head posture that told Yuriko he was deliberately acting cute, so she petted him and scratched his ears, cuteness aggression winning through the tension.
The sun shone brightly an hour before noon. Yuriko’s Stormdriven were certainly not the only mercenaries in attendance. She spotted at least a couple of hundred people waiting by the quadrangle, and even more arriving in their vehicles.
Heron’s van parked a couple of hundred paces from the entrance and the rest of them walked in. Yuriko wore her powered armour from Heron; Gwendith and Heron were similarly outfitted. Saki wasn’t in powered armour, but she was nonetheless wearing concealing clothes. Devotee was in all of his fiery glory, though he had shifted his outfit to better match Dragon Fall City aesthetics. Ryoko was attired in a similar manner as Saki, though she kept close to Devotee. The only actual combatants of the group were the three Ancients. Saki was of better use in information gathering anyway.
Heron’s powered armour looked similar to the one Yuriko wore when she killed Armando, though it was by no means identical. He was taller than her by six inches and was broad enough to conceal her if she stood behind him. The armour, heavily laden with attached weaponry, made him appear even bulkier. None of them was actually better than him just using his Ennoia but with the recent revelation of powers that could suppress that, conventional weaponry was useful.
Yuriko thought the suppression was focused on using the Ennoia to affect the ambient energies. Perhaps using Ennoias as applied to Animus or other energies one controls would countermand the suppression? She hadn’t tried in that fight and she could hardly prod the Lawbringers for another fight.
The mystery of that power made her head itch. She wanted to know, but there was really no reason to. It wasn’t as if she would live in Dragon Fall City forever. If all went well, then she would be Delving the Tower within a couple of weeks.
As for other members who could fill out their numbers, Yuriko was uncertain whether she should bring Elsie along. The woman asked for help awakening her Anima, and Yuriko had given her the tools. Whether she succeeded in the short term depended on her own efforts.
Yuriko could bestow a drop of Ambrosia, but that would necessitate binding the woman to her. There, she hesitated, although, perhaps bringing Elsie out of her current situation would be a boon. Another she considered was Elsie’s Sifu, Tiger Lao, and the talented child, Matsumi. Leaving the child alone could mean she would eventually be recruited by the Conclave of Authority; Yuriko wasn’t certain she could allow that, especially not after hearing Tiger Lao’s story.
Well, those questions could best be answered after achieving their qualification, so Yuriko focused most of her consciousness strands on the compound.
Gwendith’s powered armour was closer in design to Yuriko’s, though the torso region was heavier. That style seemed popular for most mercenaries, and oddly enough, nearly all of those she could see were fully armoured with helmets that concealed features and could provide their own air supply. A few heads turned towards Yuriko’s group when they entered the quadrangle, though most shortly turned away.
More mercenaries trickled in, and by noon, there were almost a thousand people in the compound. At the stroke of twelve o’clock, a hologram appeared in the air along with a communication thread from the nearby pylons. Yuriko allowed it to connect and she got a transcript of the Milstate representative’s speech as well as the rules of the qualification test.
“Millennium State Conglomeration does not wish to support mediocrity. The numbers allowed to join the Delve are limited, and we will bring no more than fifty of you into our mercenary corps. There are one thousand twenty-one of you today, spread across thirty bands.
“The first test is something that will be asked of you often in the First Delve: Take and Hold. Our primary interest is taking, holding, and extracting resources from the varied islands in the Void Ocean. Three longstrides north of the compound are five resource points. You are to take it from the defenders and hold it against each other until this evening, six o’clock. Be aware that death is a possibility even in this test—if you wish to withdraw, do so now. If you wish to forfeit at any time within the test, indicate it by notifying us through your linked accounts. You must exit the examination area as soon as you can. We are not barbarians and Milstate honours the rules of engagement even in the Void. remaining examinees will not attack surrendered forces. Accidents may happen, but should they be judged intentional, you may lose your qualification. The test will begin in ten minutes. Make your preparations.”
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With that, the hologram faded away. Yuriko’s Autovisor, which was integrated into her helmet, popped out a map. The nearest point of interest was to the northeast, exactly three longstrides away. The rest of the points were in a crescent from the nearest point, looping out to a league away at the northernmost point, before curving back towards the compound. The northwest point was just a couple a hundred paces farther than the northeast point.
Aside from the bands that had fifty members or more, the other bands began negotiations of sorts. Being only three active combatants—Devotee and the others moved towards the support group area indicated by the data pack—Stormdriven was ignored. Well, a couple of opportunistic envoys tried to catch Heron’s attention, but he turned them away at Yuriko’s instruction.
She and her lovers reviewed the rules and found out why just waiting until the last minute to conquer a point wouldn’t do. Each minute they held a resource point increased the team’s score, and the top five bands would proceed to the next step. Conquering more than one point would also increase the score, probably enough to ensure that they advance. So, two resource points? She could take one herself and have the other one protected by her two lovers. Alternatively, she could wipe out the other mercenary bands and make the competition a moot point.
“No,” Heron said bluntly before she could say anything.
She pouted, though her expression probably couldn’t be seen through her helmet. “Why not?”
She could feel Heron, and Gwendith, rolling their eyes. “Fifty mercenaries will be accepted, which means that even if you beat them all, some will become part of the team anyway. We don’t know how long the deployment will last, so doing that will foster resentment.”
“Yeah, I know.” Yuriko giggled. “Anyway, let’s secure the closest one for six hours or so.”
“As you wish,” Heron nodded. Gwendith nudged Yuriko with her hip, though with both of them in armour, the bump resulted in a ‘tonk!’.
The three of them walked out of the quadrangle while the other mercenaries got into their vehicles. Stormdriven didn’t have armoured personnel carriers so they had to walk. Well, they could run, but Yuriko thought to let the other bands take on the defences since they were in a rush anyway.
Two longstrides wasn’t far even for a leisurely walk. If it was a straight line anyway. The terrain wasn’t flat and the resource points turned out to be rather defensible. The northeast one was in a ravine, a cave that was supposed to be a mine. There was a basic structure there, but the rules said it could be destroyed at will. The defences were a bunch of turrets and autonomous drones. A mercenary band thirty strong had taken the point by the time Stormdriven arrived at the top of the ravine.
“Aerial armoured forces,” Heron mused, pointing out six of the mercenaries whose powered armour had deployable wings. Each one had a hip-carried machine gun even as they ascended to the top of the ravine. They quickly spotted Yuriko and the other two. They aimed their guns at them threateningly but didn’t fire immediately. A communication request went to Heron.
“Are they threatening us to leave?” Yuriko asked.
“Hmmm, yes. Politely, at that.”
“Ah, well, we need this anyway,” Yuriko muttered. “Tell them to leave.”
Heron shook his head. ‘They already cut the connection after their warning. If we linger, they will attack.”
“Oh well.” Yuriko sighed as she stepped forward. “Think you can take care of the ones below?”
“I could do that,” Gwendith said before Heron could.
“Go ahead, then.”
Gwendith nodded as she jumped off the cliff. The aerial armoured troopers opened fire as she did so. The bullets missed Gwendith but that was because she used her Anima to divert the incoming bullets. Heron jumped after her and Yuriko closed in. The machine guns spat fire and metal at her, but she avoided the line easily. She didn’t even bother blocking with her Anima. The guns were precise and fired with incredible accuracy for weapons that spewed lead, but that was what made evasion easy. She slipped around their fire cones, closing in easily. She drew her weapon, a short sword that glowed with heat.
She sliced the barrels off the guns, the edge of her blade extending past the tip by a couple of paces. Her strikers were probably faster than their eyes could follow, but she wondered if their gear included recording devices and if those things could catch her speed. Most of her Anima was focused inwards to increase her body’s strength, speed, and resilience, and at her fastest, she could easily surpass the finest Celerity Boost gear these people used. That was to say, they appeared as statues to her movement.
Clink, clink, clink.
Metal parted, leaving glowing cuts. She stopped behind the mercenaries, swords held casually at their sides. She allowed her voice to escape her helm.
“I won’t be merciful if you persist.”
She received notice of surrender a moment later.
The sword was still hot, much to her irritation. She couldn’t sheath it back at her hip. So she left the surrendered mercs to their business and hopped down the ravine. She found Heron and Gwendith had finished mopping up the defenders, though none had died.
“We’re secure,” Heron reported. “Patrol or stay?”
“I’ll spread my perception,” Yuriko said.
She sat in front of the resource point and expanded her perception, first as a sphere, but she stretched it out to the maximum reach. It was enough to cover most of the land and she could even espy the next resource point to the northwest. Just the border though.
The next few hours were rather boring. Heron and Gwendith intercepted the other bands that sought to take the resource point, didn’t kill anyone, but broke their weapons instead. The battle at the nearest resource point was an interesting play of varied tactics and equipment. A couple of mercenary bands allied together and made a pincer assault, only for one of the two to backstab the other once they secured the point. Well, they backstabbed each other as it turned out. Only for another group, the one initially holding the resource point, to take advantage of their brawl. They reclaimed the point and successfully defended it for another couple of hours.
Their resource point was quiet until the last hour when some brazen fools started lobbing mortar shells at her. She sliced the shells apart before they even came close and sicced Heron on them. He broke his legs and confiscated the weapons.
Soon afterwards, the test finished and with little surprise, they qualified.