After I and Cion left Alada behind in the town center things remained quiet between us. About halfway back Cion decided to break the ice "So... I never expected that you would just let her go. You do realize she is going to be some of your biggest competition right."

I responded without turning to face her " Yes I do but killing her now would most likely not change her overall ranking much anyway. I would just be making a powerful enemy for no reason I might as well at least gain some goodwill and a potential future friend."

"You do realize you could have just shot her dead from range and she would not have been the wiser right. You completely caught us by surprise we never knew your position." ........."Yea I knew but someone on the outside would have told her eventually and I plan to play the long game. Not just focus on the current tests. Besides I plan to win this round by survival not kill count"

" Well I'll say this you managed to catch two people in the top 20 by surprise one of them even being in the elite 4 no less. So no one is going to question your skills or abilities after this. You definitely impressed me that's for sure, I expected a newbie like you to be eliminated by now. I was actually trying to link up with Cethin up north when I got distracted by the fighting around here."

"Uh.... oh is Cethin the boy we were planning to team up with from the first test. I never got his name during our alliance discussion." Cion just rolled her eyes to that comment and continued to talk."

"Well, what did I expect It's our fault for not properly introducing ourselves to you. Well, whatever a formal introduction can wait, for now, we need to decide how to win this and enter into the top 10 spots." 

Cion had made a valid point, even though our chances had increased with us linking up a win was not guaranteed. "Well we can either hunker down and make the mansion a fortress of death, or we can be sneaky and make it a deadly distraction while we lay low somewhere else."

The silence came back as Cion contemplated the plans I suggested. She had a very thoughtful face on which enhanced her natural beauty in a tomboyish fashion. But she pulls it off well even though I don't think she does it intentionally. About three minutes passed and I could already see the gate leading to the mansions front courtyard. 

"Ok I think I like the second plan more, but why can't we do both for example make the mansion deadly then pull back and destroy it if someone actually manages to take it. So we get points and defend ourselves all the while at a minimum risk."

As Cion finished up voicing her thoughts I considered how we could implement this to the greatest effect. Finally reaching the mansions front entrance I pushed open the door and made my way towards the stairs leading to the next floor. Cion followed quietly and a few minutes later we were inside the mansion's study/conference room. 

So as I sat at the head table, with a swipe of my hand the projection table built into the floor and walls of the room displayed the layout of the mansion, including all the camera covered areas and security blind spots. I pointed to a room on the second floor. "Well this is where we are on the map, the first floor is a security nightmare there are three entry points and several windows and whatnot that can be used to break in so we can basically only stall any potential attackers. 

" The real advantage is this floor we can"  suddenly a system message interrupted me. 

Alert! Alert! Attention all remaining contestants testing phase 3 is now in effect.

Congratulations to the top 50 you are now recognized for your skills. The command Section is now officially starting.

All contestants are provided 2 squads of soldiers and 2 specialists of their choosing. Alliances are allowed, the last person or group standing wins then total points decide the overall winner. Good luck and good hunting. 

I and Cion exchanged looks, by the light in her eyes I can tell she has the same thoughts as me. This series of messages caught us off guard. We both expected for this round to continue to the top 10 either that was a lie or the plans changed. Either way, it did not change our plans for a defensive play. We just have more resources now. 

"Well, how do we collect our soldiers and select the specialists?" Shrugging her shoulders Cion looked just as unsure as me. " I don't know I'm sure they made it obvious somehow, check your PAL." 

And I did just that and what did you know it was under a new tab in by PAL assets called acquisition troops then digital soldiers. Scrolling down I select the collect two squads option. It then gave me the option to select the designated spawn area I obviously chose the mansion lobby as the destination. 

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I was then prompted to select my choice of the specialist the list expanded with various options including demolition, marksman, engineer, logistics, drone operator, etc. But the ones that caught my attention the most in this situation, was the Defense engineer and the artillery support specialist. 

I glanced at Cion wondering what her choices would be.... wait maybe we should be coordinating this more. "Cion did you select your specialist yet."

"Uhh no, I was just about to why?"  "Well if we're working together maybe we should plan this a little more carefully we have to take advantage of everything we have at our disposal."

With a pondering expression "Oh ok well I was looking at the heavy weapons specialist and the terrain specialist."

"Ok that's good it seems we were on the same page without even realizing it. I was thinking about the artillery and defense engineer. With this, we can have a solid defense and a good fall back plan with these picks."

"Alright then let's get started, woohoo I'm so excited I was so frustrated after that fight earlier was never resolved. Let's kick some butt and take those prizes for ourselves. Heheheheh"

I could only give a half-smile towards Cion's display pumping her fists and with a fire in her eyes. Anyway, she might have expressed it differently but my blood is also heated for a good challenge. A way to test my skills for real against the best of my peers. 

Sometime Later.

Our preparations took several hours of planning and minor reconstruction of the mansion. Sandbags on the stairs and internal landings, mini bunkers facing all the main entrances. Sandbag positions covering all the elevator exits and sniper nests on the roof. We even placed booby traps on the perimeter of the property and the blindspots external cameras had. Not that those are not covered by the drones I have patrolling the air. 

Now it's just a waiting game, it's better to defend than to charge blindly into some other groups fortifications. We have several surprises for anyone stupid enough to attack this spot and a backup plan just in case they actually succeed. It would be a shame to win by holding up here but, hey all is fair in war and the winner has the last laugh be they, cowards or heroes. 

Not that I claim to be either I just have the desire to win this farce of a test and use my winnings to help the people in a bad situation around the orphanage. The one thing I will say that's amazing about this situation is the digital soldiers they seem so real. From the limited exposure I've had with them, they have shown personality and desires. It makes it that much harder to send them to their deaths be them real or not.

Hopefully, I never get used to just sending people to their death whether it's a digital soldier, clones, or our troops who have extra lives due to spare clone spawns. As I was musing Sargent Flock the NCO of my two squads walked into the command room, that's now based on the panic room in the master suite.

"Commander" I looked at him "Go ahead, Sargent". "The preparations are complete, we have plan microwave boiled egg in motion and are awaiting further orders." 

My eye twitched at that plan name but Cion insisted that the name suited the plan even though I had no idea what a microwave was. I had to look it up then reference it to our situation it was some ancient cooking tech I still don't get it though. I'll ask her again later she said it would be a surprise but I'm not sure if I like the cogitation. 

" Well, Sargent just keep the troops at the ready but relaxed. We should have ample warning if someone encroaches on our perimeter. But we can thank Alada for killing all the local competition, by the time people find us here hopefully they will be damaged or lack the numbers to challenge us. The only real worry is Alada herself coming back with a vengeance"

Sargent Flock just nodded to my words "Ok, I'll see to my tasks commander call me if needed." He did an about-face and cleanly walked out of the room. Right as he left Cion walked in, I could see him move aside to accommodate her. "Asa it seems we're all ready, can't wait for that smell of heated plasma and gunpowder. it gives me shivers just thinking about it."

"By the way is it settled we are staying out of the fight cause I want to be upfront."  "Well not right up front but yea you can let loose. I'm going to participate through roof sniping or drones and hacking. There's no point in getting in the thick of it for me unless I have no other choice."

............"So guess we just wait then" .........."Yea" 

More time later.

We waited and waited with no sign of anyone trying to engage us. Until we got a confirmation of what I suspected was going on.

Congratulations to the top 25. You have reached a milestone in this phase of the competition only 9 teams remain. Good luck and good hunting.

This announcement came a good 8 hours after our preparations were complete and 14hours after the top 50 announcements were broadcast. Things were moving slow but it was in our favor. 

"Ugghhhh man I know this is working for us but at the same time I hope someone attacks us." As if by divine will Cion's complaining came to pass. We both got a notification that one of my drones spotted a force of about 4 squads of men approaching from our north through the town. 

Me Cion shared a look she just had a wide grin on her face. "Alrighty then, sound the alarm and alert the men." With a push of a button, the lights of the whole mansion dimmed and certain ones flashed for 10 seconds. Catching the attention of our men who we doing various things through the mansion. 

I patted Cion's shoulder and then made my way towards the roof, she headed in the opposite direction to the conference room on the second floor. As I opened the door to the roof I noticed that it was quite dark it was maybe 4 am or 0400 military times. A good and bad time for defense good thing my rifle scope has some light-enhancing functions or I might be out of luck. This low-level armor I'm using has no built-in night optics but hopefully, that means the enemy is in the same position.

I edged up into the roof sandbag emplacements and rested my rifle on it. I scoped out to get a good look at the enemy and what I saw gave me pause...."Well, that might be a problem."