Location: MID UCTF, Approaching Group Five Headquarters
Time: 10:27 AM; February 14th, 2108
We decided the best way to use our number advantage over all of the other teams was to divide ourselves into two equal groups. Henry suggested, and I agreed, that the only real possibility we had for losing was someone stealing our flag without us knowing. So leaving two people to guard it was the safest choice. It’s pretty unlikely that any other team would be able to commit more than that as an offensive force.
Even if they did, I’m not entirely sure if getting your flag stolen counts as an elimination in this game. Normally that’s how you’d expect things to work, but this is Karen’s game. That means it’s probably safe to say that anything goes. I don’t think it’s that she forgot to give us the in depth rules and guidelines, I’m sure she just never bothered thinking about that.
Anyway, we initially wanted to put Henry and Kazuko on offense; leaving Emelia and I on defense. Just going by our strengths, that would have made the most sense. I don’t think Henry or I have skills particularly suited to one or the other, but that wasn’t the case for the other two. Emelia is still too hesitant to even show off her augmentation to use it in any kind of aggressive way. She’s much more useful in her ability to deny the enemy from approaching her area.
And Kazuko’s entire tool kit seems to revolve around stealth, so he’s the ideal choice for surprise attacks and stealing flags.
So then why was I standing on the edge of a massive parking lot with Henry?
Because Kazuko absolutely refused to go on the offensive. He was adamant about staying on the defensive team with Emelia.
As annoying as that was, we decided not to waste any more time debating the issue. I’d go with Henry to eliminate the other teams.
The UCTF was huge, so I wasn’t sure how long we’d need in order to track down any of the other teams. Henry on the other hand was incredibly confident.
Finding some humans in this empty city is no harder than finding lunch in an empty fridge.
Or so he said. I didn’t want to think too hard about his comparison of humans to lunch, but he got results. In no time at all we managed to find one of the other teams.
Group Five decided to set up their flag in the middle of an empty parking lot. They didn’t have any kind of cover, and it didn’t look like they were trying too hard to keep themselves hidden. They probably thought their best bet was combat on an open field.
From what I had gleaned from them, that was probably a good choice. I know that the point of this exercise was to familiarize us with urban combat, but I don't think any of them had the confidence to risk using their augmentations inside a building.
[Alert. Participant Olivia Oldridge has been eliminated. Mental stress has surpassed training parameters. Psychological attention is unnecessary.]
My hand instinctively went to my face as I let out a sigh.
“What’s wrong with the girl?”
Thanks to my connection with Hana, I’ve had plenty of interactions with Olivia. She’s got her quirks, but that’s what you should expect from an augmented. Overall she’s a good person, I’m sure of that much at least. And I feel bad for all of the weird rumors I hear circulating about her.
Despite that, or maybe because of it, I don’t think she’s cut out for this kind of thing. For almost the entire time I knew her she had no interest whatsoever in developing her augmentation. But now all of the sudden she’s participating in a program like this. And for whatever reason her brother seems to be supporting her.
I suppose it makes a little bit of sense. Her getting kidnapped probably left an impression on them.
Although for someone as normal as me, my brief time being kidnapped wasn’t enough to change me at all.
“Olivia? That’s the idol girl, right? She’s cousins with the other one, the Prime Minister’s daughter.”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“I try my best not to interact with people as important as them, but it’s probably for the best that her and her cousin get eliminated quickly. Neither of them look like they’re the type to get in a fight.”
“I can agree with most of that, but you’re wrong about one thing. Oakley isn’t getting eliminated any time soon. She’ll be the last obstacle we have to overcome.”
“Because of the zebra?”
“Because of Hana, yes. As long as she’s still in, so is Oakley.”
[Alert. Participant Emily Evret Evans has been eliminated. Bodily stress has surpassed training parameters. Medical evaluation is recommended.]
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[Alert. Participant Kathrin Kaldsen has been eliminated. Critical injuries have been sustained. Medical attention is necessary.]
“There you have it. Based on Emily and Kathrin being eliminated simultaneously I think it’s safe to assume that Hana is the primary cause.”
“Then let’s not waste any more time.”
Henry looked toward our three targets.
A tall girl trying to look small.
An oblivious boy trying to look good striking ridiculous poses.
And an ordinary guy trying to look flashy.
“I don’t have a strategy. This might seem arrogant, but we won’t need one for them. Let’s just end things quickly.”
“Agreed.”
As one of the few students who actually paid attention to the others when they practiced, I knew enough about their augmentations to know they didn’t stand any real chance. Even if I didn’t help at all, Henry would be more than enough. Honestly, his biggest problem would be holding back enough to not cause any serious injury.
“Then let’s get to work!”
Abandoning any kind of strategy, Henry charged straight at them.
Hold on, I knew he said he wanted to end things quickly, but I didn’t know he meant that quickly. I wasn’t ready yet. By the time I realized what he was doing he was already too far ahead. If I tried to join him at that point I’d just look like an unwanted tagalong.
Well, then, it looked like Henry would have to settle this on his own after all.
“Ahh!”
The first to react was Cynthia. She let out a surprised scream before violently shaking the other two in a panic.
“Come on then you two, keep that man away from the little miss!”
Cynthia gave a command to the others through her stuffed animal.
“Gravitation! Three times!”
Next was Nolan. He took a wide stance and pushed his arms out toward Henry. It didn’t look like anything happened after that, but Nolan’s augmentation wasn’t one that could be seen. He had the ability to alter the gravitational force on an object, with a boatload of restrictions of course.
Unfortunately for Nolan, the object he was trying to stop, Henry, didn’t seem noticeably bothered by having his weight essentially tripled.
“No fair! I demand a rematch. He deserves a handicap!”
Once Blake realized Nolan’s attack was an absolute failure he crouched down and touched a puddle of red paint he had already poured out.
“Red: Fire.”
The puddle transformed into a burning patch on the pavement. The fire spread along the path Blake had painted around the parking lot in advance, forming a large circle around him and his teammates.
Blakes augmentation involved transforming artificial coloring into something else that matched that color. That wide pool of options gave Blake the potential to be devastating, but his lack of control over whatever he created was a real hindrance. Not to mention he had to carry around more supplies than an art teacher.
“Haha, taste the flames of Satanachia! Burn in eternal torment!”
Without even acknowledging it, Henry burst through the Blake’s ring of fire.
“Curses. The spirits have abandoned me on this day”
Having finally regained some semblance of control, Cythina forced her palm flat against the ground.
“Earth golem, materialize!”
Nolan and Blake lost their footing as the pavement underneath them started to fracture. A stony arm smashed through the ground, digging its fingers into the already damaged pavement. Then a second arm did the same.
Having gained a solid grip, those arms pulled a hulking earthen body out of the ground. Made out of solid earth and stone, it must have been three or four meters tall with a stocky frame.
And as interesting as that was, the truly amazing thing happened next. You see, Cynthia has one of the more interesting stigmas out there.
“Hahaha, rise, my minion! Lift me upon your frame so I can properly look over my kingdom.”
Yeah, that was Cynthia. Her bravado filled laugh continued as her golem picked her up and sat her on its shoulder.
“I am the Ruler! Bow down to me or be crushed under the oppressive heel of my impending conquest! You! Redhead! Sing my praises!”
“Oh, Ruler! I can feel your strength! It’s amplifying my cursed power. I don’t know if I can contain the demons inside me for much longer.”
Needless to say, Blake was full of it. He had just spent enough time with Cynthia, or maybe I should call them Ruler at this point, to know that it was best to play along.
“Um. As it should be. Now, golem, crush that peasant. I have no need for dissidents in my kingdom!”
Ruler’s golem reared back one of its massive fists, and Henry did the same. Apparently he didn’t feel the need to dodge.
As their firsts connected both remained motionless.
Then both of them started to crack. And I meant that literally. Henry’s arm was crushed into a sad state, but it quickly regenerated. Meanwhile, just like the ground it climbed out of, the golem started to fracture. The cracks in its form continued to grow before quickly reaching the point of no return. The entire thing crashed to the ground as a pile of inanimate dirt and rock.
Before they could hit the ground, Henry jumped up and caught Ruler, throwing them directly at Blake.
“How dare you touch-”
“No, wait, please don’t-”
After landing, Henry continued his assault toward a petrified Nolan, landing an unblocked punch to the solar plexus.
[Alert. Participant Cynthia Cyprus has been eliminated. Bodily stress has surpassed training parameters. Medical attention is unnecessary.]
[Alert. Participant Blake Bland has been eliminated. Bodily stress has surpassed training parameters. Medical attention is unnecessary.]
[Alert. Participant Nolan Northcut has been eliminated. Bodily stress has surpassed training parameters. Medical attention is unnecessary.]
This was the only possible outcome, but I wasn’t expecting it to be over quite so quickly. They might not be very experienced, but those three were still augmenteds.
Henry lifted their flag up and looked back toward me.
“Was that too much? I think that was too much. I shouldn’t have done that much. I went a little overboard, but come on, that rock man got me all pumped up. I forgot I was fighting humans.”
Despite his concerns, Henry’s three victims suffered no serious injuries. After a few minutes of making sure they were okay, Henry and I headed off toward our next target.