Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero
M1 Rank: 1/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null
Term: 1, Round: 5
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The debriefing at 1830 went as expected. The behavioural tutes and Vannier’s experience advised Daedo to begin with positives – what the squad did well – and finish with areas that they needed to work on in practice and their next match.
A short discussion on loadouts and opponent analysis took place. The plans for meeting the M3 Shu squad that had purchased their exos were outlined. The speed advantage that M1TS0 usually had would be nullified for the first time. The nature of exos enhancing a cadet’s own speed and strength would mean M3SS0 probably had the advantage due to their ability and age.
“Next item,” Vannier continued. She had a meeting agenda set, mimicking the practice Morganne Barran displayed. “There will be some changes to personnel next term.”
Gaumont shifted nervously in his seat. He was dreading this announcement and had kept the news to himself. Vannier looked at Gaumont and nodded. He cleared his throat and said submissively, “Next term, I will be going to Squad One.”
“And,” Vannier prompted.
“Gaumont will be taking over as squad leader of M1TS1 and implementing our practices,” Daedo stated. “Master Nader informed us she had planned this from the start.”
“So who is replacing him?” Barran asked, ignoring Gaumont totally.
“We will be worse off without you,” Axel-Zero said, consoling Gaumont while Vannier glared at Barran.
“This isn’t as a demotion for Gaumont,” Vannier said. “It is a challenge and a promotion. Imagine if Squad One makes the semis next term? They would have no chance without him.”
“Woah,” Barran said, finally giving Gaumont some recognition. “That’s a tall order. If you can pull it off.”
Vannier said, “We don’t know who is replacing him or who is leaving Squad One to make space. What we do know is that the replacement is not coming from Squad One. Gaumont will go there as an elite. A leader to improve them. That cannot happen if Xavier or someone else was promoted.”
“Master Nader asked me to provide a list of the key skills needed to design and manufacture mecha and its armaments, who is assigned to which area, and what speciality we are missing,” Daedo said. “Which leads us to believe she probably already knows and has someone to fill the gap.”
Vannier nodded. “If not, she will find someone capable. All we know at this time is that we don’t know, and they are not in Thoth Squad One.” She paused before continuing. “Last item. At the end of the first week of the break, Daedo, Mace, and Axel-Zero are attending the Amateur Mecha League Tournament in Munich. Everyone is invited to attend. Daedalus is paying for travel and accommodation.”
“We are going to the expo too,” Mace added.
“And no, Barran,” Vannier said before he could ask, “since Daedalus is paying, Axel-Zero will pick the accommodation and mode of travel. If you don’t like them, you can upgrade yourself.”
“We might be able to stay at my aunt’s place,” Axel-Zero offered.
“Most places will be booked by now,” Barran said. “You’d better contact her and find out.”
“Everyone, find out if you can attend and message Axel-Zero by Friday afternoon,” Vannier instructed. She looked at Daedo, who shook his head. “Okay, we’re done,” she finished.
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Mace: Okay, you have a lot of explaining to do.
As the cadets of Thoth Squad Zero rested, showered, ran off steam, or caught up on last-minute assignments, Mace messaged Daedo. She had been patient on a few things she wanted to drill him on.
Daedo: Let’s go topside for a run.
They donned their helmets and went for a long run through the parks and trails above the academy.
With a multitude of military sensors active and AIs assisting, they could run in pitch black darkness. With their helmets on, they could also use voice comms to eliminate the chance of being overheard.
“Where to start,” Daedo breathed.
“We should slow down,” Mace said, “you probably have a lot of talking to do.”
“Okay,” Daedo replied. “How about you ask questions to get us started.”
“I watched the capture you sent me of the conversation with Horus,” Mace began. “And then the capture of the conversation with Master Nader. What’s missing is what you were thinking.”
“That we are going to be invaded by something – I don’t know what yet,” Daedo said. “I guess it’s been kept a secret to prevent everyone from panicking. But it’s obvious that some of the chiefs know and Master Nader knows. Probably that colonel as well. And higher-ups in corporations, because they have militaries and are building The Spiral. The governments know, that’s why they have these large standing forces and are funding The Spiral as well. That’s what I know as far as evidence and who is in on the conspiracy.
“I know my father has no idea, and I very much doubt Cisse does either. The reason I said those things to Fortescue was to see if she knew. And it was obvious that she and her friends have no idea.”
“Okay,” Mace said, and they kept running while she thought. Finally, she said, “Let’s move aside what we know and stop worrying. There’s nothing we can do. We aren’t going to prevent an alien invasion or tell the world about it. No one would believe us. Hell, Horus didn’t take you seriously at all. Imagine what adults would think.”
They turned a corner and began to run past the palace of Versaille.
Myrmidon: We could spread the story on the net. There is a lot of misinformation that meatheads think is true.
“That’s brilliant,” Daedo said suddenly.
“What?” Mace asked. Myrmidon had not sent her the message, although he had access to her HUD.
“Myrmidon said we could spread rumours on the net,” Daedo said excitedly. “And we could do it anonymously. If no one believes them, so be it.”
“He could probably make thousands of posts under different names,” Mace said, thinking out loud.
“Hmm, we’d have to be careful. The anti-bot laws are severe.”
Mace shrugged. “People still do it all the time. Okay, next. Other than telling the world about the impending doom, what else are we doing? Because there’s no point moping and worrying.”
Daedo laughed. “My thoughts exactly. We’re going to do three things.” He ran up the stairs, putting himself out of breath. At the top, he stopped and started to create his alien invasion to do list.
Daedo: One. Develop our exo, mecha, and armaments.
Daedo: Two. Make tonnes of creds and spend them, funding our R & D, manufacturing, and expansion.
Daedo: Three. Develop our combat skills and tactics.
“So in other words, what we were already doing,” Mace said.
He laughed. “Yes, but with a different perspective.”
“Are we going to recruit others?”
“Slowly. And I think some will come to us.”
“How does Master Nader fit into everything?”
“She …” Daedo thought about their master and finally concluded, “I think we can rely on her.”
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It was their fourth time standing at attention in the corral of the topside exo arena. Except for today, they were facing M3 Shu Zero. They had barely beaten M3SS1, a squad that did not possess the Thoth exo.
Daedo: What is the best strategy when you want to keep all of your squad alive, and the enemy has you outgunned and outmanoeuvred?
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Myrmidon: Run away?
Daedo: Yes. But that might be worse than death.
Daedo had prepared a strategy. The conversation with Myrmidon was just to relax his nerves.
The only way to make up the difference was to outthink Siderus. It was true, Shu had better weapons. Their military-grade railguns were better. They used photon blades, which suited their style. While the damage was not out of this world, they more than made up for it with speed and skill. They had recon drones that could explode, and ion blasters on their hips. Daedo was thankful they didn’t have grapplers. But with the reactor he’d delivered to them, their jumpjets could run for forty-five seconds every five minutes.
Thoth had shields and grapplers. There was a mixture of swordlances and grenade launchers. Five of the squad had the one-handed railgun, which would be used similarly to a shotgun at medium to close range. Two had the long barrel, which was for long-range sniping and cover fire.
Daedo, Mace, and Axel-Zero – shield, grappler, grenade launcher, one-handed railgun.
Vannier– shield, grappler, grenade launcher, long-range railgun.
Picard – shield, grappler, swordlance, long-range railgun.
Barran and Gaumont – shield, grappler, swordlance, one-handed railgun.
In Barran terms, Daedo would give his left nut for an enhanced swordlance and shield right now. But that would have to wait for the next term. And drones. Shu had drones.
The drones were basically mobile traps, but with sensors. They were not fast or mobile, but if he had the ability to move traps around and have them spy, it would be ten times more effective than the traps they currently carried.
The terrain was a mystery and would be until the match began. M1TS0 prayed for something that was grappler friendly. A city or mountains would serve nicely.
With a quick wave wishing Thoth luck, Shu moved to the northern end.
Barran: Why can’t the other houses be like Shu?
Everyone laughed. It was true, Shu always displayed sportsmanship and was friendly, whereas Osiris, Horus, and Amun-Ra had more than their fair share of pretentious twats. There were exceptions, of course, and M3 cadets seemed to be much more level-headed than M1.
Daedo: No one dies.
Axel-Zero: Because this afternoon we fight again.
Laughter ensued. The squad was in high spirits.
5 … 4 … 3 … amber … green
The shimmering wall disappeared, and the map was revealed. It was a desert.
“Fuck!” Barran shouted what Daedo felt.
It was undulating, but nothing the grapplers could hook onto. Unless there was a single palm tree at an oasis, and that counted.
Daedo walked out onto the sand. The real sky was accommodating the scene; there was not a cloud in sight.
Daedo: Run to the first hill and dig the base of our shields into the sand.
The squad followed his lead.
Daedo: Close the gaps, overlay the shield by ten mills. Form a semi-circle.
He loosed a smoke grenade and then another to cover their work. It would not be long before Shu was in sight.
Daedo: Pile sand up at the front. Vannier, Picard – draw your railguns and keep watch.
Axel-Zero, Gaumont, and Barran piled up sand using their hands. Daedo jumped straight up in the air using his jumpjets. The enemy was on the move. He could see four of them, and they spied him immediately.
Daedo: Vannier, Picard – run to the east fifty paces then jump and shoot. Just the once, do not hold in the air.
Vannier: I got a hit. Leg, I think.
The pair ran back to take up positions behind the shields.
Daedo: Stop with the sand; they’ll be here soon.
Daedo was prepared for flanking, with the shields curved on the hill. Shu may have grenades but had no launchers. And if they split their forces, he would be able to focus-fire them down.
Picard: Drones!
The long-range snipers began to fire. There were four – now six drones zigzagging towards them. Shu knew where they were now.
Daedo: Mace, set traps to the east and west at the bottom of the hill. Come back if they engage.
Picard and Vannier fired on the drones, and every second shot was able to take one down. But while they were doing that, the drones got closer, and so did the Shu cadets. Daedo cursed. The drones were drawing all the fire, but they weren’t close enough for the one-handed railguns.
Daedo: Leave the drones. Fire on the red dot.
Myrmidon would place the red dot on cadets. They were the primary targets for Vannier and Picard. Once the drones were in range, the rest would have to take them down with the medium-range railguns.
Myrmidon: More drones. Twelve now.
They had taken down two. Shu must be at their limit. Could they possibly carry more than two each? He would soon know. They were rushing. Using drones for cover. Another reason they used photon blades – they were extremely small, especially when compared to a swordlance, allowing more weight and space for the drones.
The Shu cadets began to use jumpjets to increase their speed. Their experience was showing as they started to time Vannier and Picard’s shots by the reload speed. When one was due, they moved erratically left and right, and once the shot was fired, they headed directly towards Thoth.
The other five Thoth members had their hands full trying to take down all the drones before they exploded on top of them. The drones could cover the fifty metres in five seconds, giving them barely enough time to take down two each – which could still leave two, depending on the spacing and last reload.
What was certain was that if they missed, that drone would certainly get through and explode.
Shu laid down four smoke grenades for cover. They were going to flank or lie prone using the grenades to hide their movements.
The shield wall was forcing Shu’s hand. They could not stay at range and exchange fire without being at a severe disadvantage.
Daedo had no time to assess and give orders. He had to take down his two or three drones. By the time those drones were dealt with, in one way or another, Shu would be on top of them. The drones had effectively nullified five cadets during the charge.
He shot his railgun at the first drone and immediately switched to launcher while it reloaded. With his left hand, he launched a frag grenade at the incoming Shu and then switched back to his railgun for his second shot on a drone.
Myrmidon was displaying red and orange dots for each individual cadet. It prevented two of them from shooting at the same drone.
Ten more drones were downed, and there were two misses, but the distance between the lead drone and the last allowed for two extra shots.
Two drones made it through and exploded on the Thoth cadets. Everyone took some damage – Mace and Picard more than anyone else. There was no time for assessment. Shu was upon them with photon blades drawn. All seven of them.
It was going to be a short match.
There were only three swordlances amongst Daedo’s squad – Barran, Gaumont, and Picard.
Normally, Daedo would hide in cover and deliver instructions. But there was nowhere to hide. Each cadet had to think for themselves. The only thing Daedo could do was think an image to Myrmidon, who sent one-word instructions on the HUD.
Daedo: Shield – launcher – jumpjets and drop grenades.
The message was sent to the four cadets without a swordlance. The next one was sent to Picard, Barran and Gaumont.
Daedo: Shield – swordlance – jumpjets forward.As mayhem ensued, Daedo wondered why the hell they had to get a desert. It totally stuffed them. But there was a lesson in that. Be prepared for anything.
Spectators would have to rewind and play the footage back several times to see what happened in the next ten seconds.
Thoth was spectacular in their coordinated move. Shu lept into melee, and they would have known that Thoth only had three melee weapons. Thoth moved in two directions, up and forward through the incoming Shu.
Grenades started to pop off on the ground, and several Shu cadets who were fending off and attempting their own blows against the three Thoth cadets flying into their path were caught off-guard.
Bodies were twisting, tumbling, being damaged. Chaotic was the only way to describe the action.
Barran was talented, and Picard had trained with weapons all her life, but they could not stand up to the M3 cadets who had trained with blades for the last two years. Cadets who were stronger, quicker, and more experienced – they were fifteen, and their opponents were thirteen. These were Squad Zero cadets. And as talented as the two Thoth members were, so were their opponents.
Gaumont went down first. Then a Shu cadet fell.
Daedo: Stay in the air. We have forty seconds. Bombard them with grenades.
Daedo’s group flew backwards, away from Picard and Barran, and fired grenades into the melee. Five cadets launching frag and incendiary grenades into a small area was a sight to behold, even if it was AR.
One more Shu went down, and although Barran and Picard had shields, they were almost down as well.
Daedo: Hold. Grapple their opponents.
Daedo: Barran and Picard – retreat to the zone. Drag Gaumont and use all your jumpjets if you have to, but get to the zone alive.
The grapplers pulled on the Shu cadets, barely damaging them but dragging them across the sand for five metres before they could dislodge themselves. It gave Barran and Picard enough time to pick up Gaumont and run. The pair leapt into the air, firing their jumpjets with all of the remaining Shu hot on their heels.
Daedo’s group switched to one-handed railguns and skipped backwards as they fired.
Barran had dropped his shield and swordlance to grab Gaumont, which confused the hell out of Shu and spectators alike.
Before Shu caught Barran, Daedo began to use launchers again. The enemy aimed the frag grenades at Barran’s feet, but by the time the grenades landed and exploded, he was well past the blast radius. However, it kept Shu off him long enough for the entire squad to reach the entrance.
It was one of the rules of the arena that if you left the zone, you forfeited. Shu had lost two cadets and Thoth one. But Thoth was down to one melee weapon in a map with no cover other than their shields.
Picard was almost down, as was Axel-Zero.
Shu began to manoeuvre into an encirclement while Daedo struggled with a decision.
Daedo: Step through.
All five cadets: What?
Daedo: If we stay, we are certain to lose a few – if not all – of the squad.
Shu began to fire railguns with Thoth cadets returning fire. Shu would be upon them in seconds to continue the melee battle in which they had a significant advantage. Most of Thoth’s jumpjets were consumed, and their backs were against a wall. The only reason Shu wasn’t amongst them already was the confusion Thoth’s actions had caused. Siderus must have been looking for traps.
Daedo: Step through. That’s an order.
Cadet Daedo forfeit
Cadet Mace forfeit
Cadet Picard forfeit
Cadet Vannier forfeit
Cadet Axel-Zero forfeit
Cadet Barran forfeit
Daedo inspected the logs and breathed a sigh of relief. Gaumont had been incapacitated, not killed outright.
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Commander Mallet was in the Fortescue Military Academy box watching the match with the extremely talented, yet troublesome, M1 Thoth squad against the accomplished M3 Shu Squad Zero.
The match was highly unpredictable, and the two squads engaged in tactic and countertactic. It was comforting to see such skilled commanders amongst cadets in the middle academy.
As the match wore on, Shu was pushing Thoth back. Despite losing more cadets, it was obvious the momentum was with the older squad.
Then he witnessed something he had never seen in all his days. In an arena match, a squad was rescuing one of their incapacitated members. Everyone else in the box was laughing at the ludicrousness of the move.
“Is it because they’re M1?” one master said.
Another Master replied, “Surely they understand. They haven’t done this in any other matches.”
Finally, the Thoth squad was pushed back to the entrance. They had nowhere to go. It was a strategic blunder from their squad leader, who had only shown creativity, boldness, and precision before today.
“He dropped his swordlance and shield to carry the other cadet,” Master Leon exclaimed.
Thoth Squad Zero stood at the entrance and then dramatically, one by one, stepped through and forfeited.
Commander Mallet would have been inconsolably outraged at the sheer stupidity and cowardice in forfeiting a match in such a fashion – to not fight to the end and lose with dignity.
He would have been if he hadn’t been in shock.