On the day of her match, Xiao was excited to be reunited with everyone at Zavaso. She missed being in the office where she felt she belonged. The academy has incredible training facilities but she could feel the hostilities from the other students who didn’t see her as one of them. Since a lot of her training saw her alone somewhere in the academy, she didn’t even get to see Puhi all that much. When they were together, their conversations always revolved around pilots or mechs and rarely did they discuss matters outside of their career.

“You have no idea how much I missed you,” said Xiao as she embraced Vesna. “Do you know how hard it is to gather information that you give me so willingly?”

“I have a feeling that you would be lost without me. Here you go!”

First, Vesna presented a mech overview of the mantis mech. Despite the fact that Huxley was on her team, they decided that Xiao didn’t need to know about the mech until she faced them in combat.

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Mech Type: Mantis

Mech Weight Class: Light

Left Arm (Structure): 20

Left Torso (Structure): 20

Left Leg (Structure): 40

Center Torso (Structure): 40

Right Leg (Structure): 40

Right Torso (Structure): 20

Right Arm (Structure): 20

Armor Type(s): Armor (Basic)

Gyro Type(s): Gyro (Basic), Gyro (Improved)

Engine Core Type(s): Engine Core 20 (Basic), Engine Core 20 (Improved)

Cooling Type(s): Cooling (Basic)

Weapon Type(s): Chainsaw, Sword

>

Xiao already made plans about her mech’s loadout and sent her thoughts to Wattan who she trusted would make the right adjustments. Looking at the overview, she looked to Vesna and asked about the sword weapon. Even Huxley didn’t use any swords so she was curious what such a weapon was capable of.

“It’s unlikely we’ll see swords in casual matches. They are special weapons that are manufactured by specialized manufacturers who don’t take any clients. I don’t even recall seeing any in the recent tournament matches I’ve watched. Just shows you how rare the weapon is. Their rarity always emphasizes how powerful they are as they aren't weapons you can acquire so easily.”

Having the matter clarified, Xiao went to talk to Wattan.

“Missus, the loadout is just as you wanted. Its ballistic focus should let you turn those mantis mechs into swiss cheese!”

After thanking the head mechanic, Xiao went to get changed into her suit. The MTS did incredible things but it simply couldn’t replace the actual feeling of being within a mech. An hour later, she was in an arena again in her first squad match. Once the match began, she and Puhi ran towards each other until they met halfway. Then, they positioned themselves so they covered each other’s back. The duo agreed that an issue with melee only mechs was their reliance on going on the offensive. While other mechs could potentially keep some distance to either wait for cooling or use mid to long range weapons, the two mantis mechs didn’t have such an option. As long as the two of them stuck together, a two versus one situation couldn’t happen either.

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What are they going to do?

Xia watched as the two mantis mechs circled around them, looking for an opening. After a minute of circling, the two mantes charged in as their pilots knew they couldn’t win unless they got close. A few seconds later, an explosion could be felt from where Puhi was facing.

“Puhi’s MRMs have landed on the mantis,” reported Vesna.

I can't believe how much I miss Vesna updating things in my headset.

The small victory had Xiao pump her fist briefly before she engaged the incoming mantis. She waited until the two mechs were nearly upon each other before doing a quick lateral movement so the mantis went past her mech. Next, she stuck to the mantis’ rear like glue and unleashed her light machine guns.

Glad my training is finally paying off!

At the academy, Xiao was working on sticking to her opponents. The MTS allowed her to pick fast mechs which she could shadow while using her weapons. Initially, her attempts failed quickly as she was shaken off easily. Eventually, she got a better idea of how to better adjust her movement until she could use the smallest movements to change directions. This minimal effort translated to her reacting fast enough to always apply pressure without actually needing to predict her opponent’s movements. The young woman was also aware that this only worked against low level pilots. Against the experienced ones, she had no hopes of sticking so well as they would have countermeasures or the skills to throw her off.

“The other mantis is charging at your backside,” warned Vesna.

“No worries! My squadmate has me covered!”

Xiao just focused on her own opponent who wasn’t faring too well under the light machine gun fire. By the time Xiao finished off her opponent, Puhi was already waiting close to her mechbay door. The match was quite one-sided but Xiao was relieved to have pulled off what she was practicing so hard for. To see it in action gave her a sense of progress.

Now I have five straight wins! It feels almost unreal!

Later that night, Xiao called her father. She knew that, once she returned to the academy, it would be much harder to talk with him. Taking advantage of staying at a hotel, she called him to check up on him. The two of them discussed her match only, though her father provided a different perspective. Xiao didn’t expect them to view things so differently, reminding her that it was easy for her to miss a lot during the heat of the battle. Vesna would try her best to cover this blindspot of hers but she was ultimately responsible for responding to any unexpected surprises during matches.

“Remember to have fun, dear! You’re already doing an incredible job! Your fan club is growing and your feats are already attracting attention.”

After the meeting, Xiao checked for the videos that showcased her record. Like Puhi said, her record was apparently impressive enough to catch people’s attention. There were a few videos made when she had a 4-0-0 record. Following her latest win, more videos had coverage on her with thumbnails that made her embarrassed. She was being called the best outcast pilot in the history of mech combat.

I don’t deserve that title. I…I still have so much to do before I can earn that title.

Then, her eyes caught the title: What does Xiao need to do to be the best outcast pilot? Curious with the answer, she opened the video and watched it from start to finish. As usual, she cross checked everything in the video with her own research, confirming that the video was very well done. Outcasts made up one percent of those in tournaments but only one of them made it to the fifth highest league. The tournament had a total of ten league ranks with each one a rank higher being much harder to get into. Those who reached the top three ranks were already pretty impressive. Even an outcast reaching the fifth rank was solid as that was middle of the pack. At the very least, Xiao had to reach that league to live up to the title of best outcast pilot.

To think that I haven’t even gotten close to a relegation match for the last ranked league either. Talk about a lengthy road!

Despite how long the road was, Xiao firmly believed she needed a big goal to aim for. Without a goal, she wouldn’t be getting anywhere. To aim a bit higher, she planned on making the fourth rank league, a first for outcasts. If she was aiming for the top, she might as well go where no other outcast had gone before. She also had an advantage no other outcast possessed. The fact that she had academy resources gave her a major edge.

But is that cheating? I’m no longer an outcast if I get academy resources, right?

With the question gnawing at her, Xiao messaged Vesna to get an answer. As expected, Vesna replied promptly that Xiao was still very much an outcast. Unlike those who attended academies and were given the resources since they were a young age, Xiao didn’t have that luxury. Her current benefits were no different from a pilot getting resources from a sponsor. In other words, Xiao’s outcast status remained intact. For the first time, Xiao felt proud of her outcast status. She then asked the girl if her next match was organized. Vesna stated that they were working on it. A recent terrorist attack had rocked the the sector of the galaxy where their original match was taking place. No details were released but, as of the moment, no shuttle could reach that planet.

A terrorist attack? What is happening? I hope everyone will remain safe.