Jania scanned the terrain through her scope, frustration creeping into her voice. “I don’t see them. They’re not at the rendezvous point.”

Null exhaled, sinking onto a rock, his usual fluid movements slower, more deliberate. The strain of pushing his limits was catching up to him. His body ached from enhancing his strength with Infy’s power, and every muscle protested as he tried to regulate his breathing.

"We should wait," he said, his voice slipping into Jania’s mind. "If they’re off course, we need to replan the mission"

Jania hesitated. Resting now felt wrong. Every instinct screamed at her to keep moving, but she wasn’t blind she could tell that Null was struggling. He was hiding it well, but she spent enough time around other super soldiers to see it.

“Alright, little man, but only five minutes and you better have a good plan afterwards,” Jania agreed, lowering herself onto the ground beside him. She pulled out her energy canisters and tossed one his way. “You need this more than I do.”

Null caught it but didn’t immediately insert it into his drinking slot. Instead, he checked his reserves. He hadn’t packed any extra food or drink to save on weight, and Chris had the group’s supplies. Finally, he placed the canister into the slot, not because he truly needed it, but more to appease Jania. The familiar rush of adrenaline and stimulants kicked in, sharpening his senses.

They sat in silence, scanning the empty Martian landscape. Then, a faint static buzzed through their communicators, cutting in and out at irregular intervals.

Jania frowned. “What’s that?”

Null tilted his head slightly, listening. Infy had already begun processing the pattern. "It’s a code," he communicated into their minds. "Zeph is sending us a message."

Jania leaned forward. “Can you make it out?”

"It’s not a direct transmission. It’s an intermittent signal, hidden in the static. Infy’s decoding it, but…" Null hesitated.

Jania narrowed her eyes. “But what?”

"It suggests they’ve been captured."

She stared at him. “Captured? That doesn’t make any sense. Why capture someone in this exercise when they could just eliminate them?”

"Exactly. If they were taken out, we wouldn’t be able to score. But they weren’t."

Jania’s expression darkened as she processed that. “Then that means they’re trying to control us. They don’t want a head-to-head fight. They’re trying to limit our choices.”

"Which means they know we’re a threat."

Jania smirked, “That’s kind of flattering.”

Null didn’t share her amusement. "It also means they have a plan. And we’re walking right into it."

Jania exhaled sharply and glanced back through her scope. “So, what’s the move, little man?”

"First, we confirm where they are. Then we break their game."

He closed his eyes again, focusing. Infy, show me where they are.

The code gave them solid directions, and once they followed it, everything clicked into place for Null. Now he understood why he hadn’t detected the third ambush team.

They weren’t standard infantry, no they were Martian merge mechs squad. Three mechs, each armed with training weapons, meaning they were still technically part of the scenario. However, the merge pods inside the mechs made it harder for Null to detect the pilots.

The mechs stood five meters tall, humanoid in design, with various weapon attachments mounted to their bulky frames. Their imposing presence was enough to unnerve most people but Null hadn’t expected Jania to be one of them.

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She had gone rigid beside him. Her breathing was shallow, her hands clenched. At first, Null assumed she was pumping herself up, but when he reached into her mind to confirm, he found only chaos. She wasn’t responding.

Something was wrong.

Without hesitation, Null forced his way in, pulling her thoughts into focus. Reality snapped back for Jania, and she gasped, blinking as if waking from a nightmare.

“Thanks, It was a training mission,” she muttered, her voice raw. “One of my squadmates, just a small thing a bit like you. She made a single mistake. Got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The mech stepped on her. Crushed her completely.”

Null saw it play out in her mind the raw terror, the helplessness, the sickening crunch of metal on flesh. He had heard about this, it was covered in training. Some times good soldiers would break.

She was reliving the trauma.

Null made a quick assessment. She wouldn’t be useful in this fight. Not like this.

“Stay here,” his voice whispered in her mind, steady and firm. “I’ll handle it.”

Jania didn’t argue. She just nodded, swallowing hard as she took a step back.

Null turned his attention back to the towering mechs.

Time to clean this up.

Null had no weapon capable of taking on a mech at least not directly. The towering machines held the advantageous position, standing firm with Null’s three squadmates lined up behind them as hostages. There wasn’t any room to flank them.

He knew the moment they spotted him.

The mechs locked on instantly.

Red lights flashed on Zeph and Max’s suits they were both eliminated. They had done their job as bait.

Multiple shots were fired. Training rounds, but they still packed a punch. He moved making sure he was low, fast and unpredictable. He rolled behind cover, his and Infy's minds analysing the battleground. Three mechs. Three pilots. One objective.

"Infy, you ready for this?"

Infy’s voice resonated in his mind, sharp and confident. “You have to ask?”

Null exhaled, Infy had already calculated their approach.

The first move was to separate them.

He darted out of cover, making himself a tempting target. Shots followed him, burning into the sand where he had been a second earlier.

One of the mechs took the bait.

The central unit who was undoubtedly the squad leader had held its ground. But the leftmost mech, with heavier armor and slow tracking, moved forward to cut off his escape.

Exactly what he wanted.

Null changed direction instantly, kicking off the ground and sprinting towards the mech at an impossible angle. Its turrets adjusted too slowly.

By the time it corrected, Null was already beneath it.

The mech swung an arm, trying to swat him away like an insect. He jumped, twisting mid-air. The arm passed harmlessly beneath him.

Null’s hand shot forward, pressing against the back of the mech’s merge pod casing.

A single burst of energy from Infy.

The effect was instant.

The pilot's neural link severed.

The mech convulsed, its servos locking up before collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.

The two of them had studied Merge craft extensively and knew their weakness, The interface between man and machine.

One down.

Null landed lightly, his feet barely kicking up dust. No time to hesitate. He had two left to deal with.

He turned his attention to the next target.

The rightmost mech had slower reflexes. Probably the least experienced pilot.

Null didn’t waste time. He hijacked the disabled mech’s targeting systems, rerouting its still-active weapons.

The turrets whirred to life but now, they were firing at its allies.

Gunfire rained down. The rightmost mech took heavy hits to its armor. The pilot panicked, stepping backward to evade right into a rocky incline.

It was over. The suit locked up, deactivating after registering excessive damage and the training program deciding it had lost.

Two down.

Null turned his focus to the final mech.

The leader.

This pilot was different.

They didn’t panic. They didn’t flinch.

Instead, the mech surged forward, closing the distance.

Null barely had time to dodge as a massive mechanical fist slammed down, cracking the ground where he had stood. He would have died if that had hit. Are they under orders to use lethal force?

Fast. Too fast for a standard pilot.

This one was experienced.

But Null was faster.

He feinted left, but at the last second, twisted back to the right, avoiding another devastating strike. The mech lunged, but he rolled beneath it, sliding between its legs.

The pilot adjusted immediately they were smart.

Null heard servos whine as the mech spun with shocking agility, bringing an arm down toward him like a battering ram.

But Null had already vanished from its line of sight.

He moved like a ghost, weaving through its attacks.

Then, he saw his opening.

The back of the merge pod casing his target.

Null didn’t hesitate.

He vaulted off a rock, twisted midair, and drove both hands against the mech’s back.

Infy released another controlled burst.

The pilot’s neural link snapped.

The mech locked up, joints seizing. It teetered for a moment before crashing forward, its massive frame kicking up a cloud of red dust.

Three down.

The mission was complete.

Chris was still restrained, but still active. Null quickly unfastened his restraints and pulled him to his feet.

Chris gave him a look that was half disbelief, half exhaustion.

“You took down three mechs by yourself.”

Null just tilted his head, expression unreadable. “Missions must be completed.”

Chris sighed. “Fair enough.”

The rules of the mission dictated that the “dead” bodies remained behind to be retrieved separately. Chris and Null had to move.

With one last glance at the battlefield, Null walked forward, leaving the ruined mechs behind and they met up with Jania. It was a straight walk to the end now. The second round was over.