“Oh. Looks like you all have lost this little challenge of mine,” Reese-Cato’s voice chimes over the coms. “What a shame, and you were so close, too.”

At her provocation, a com alert from Auclai-Stolz comes through.

“Hunt them down! We can’t let them get a single enemy unit if we are to win. We will target the bases. You eliminate the tanks!”

“Understood!” I reply, my eyes snapping to my sensors and the closest tank group. Drawing my Tempête, I open fire on the approaching squad. The rocket lands dead on, with the target striking the tank in the turret. As the blast clears, I see that the lead tank has been damaged, but thanks to the thick armor of the tanks, it is still functional.

I send another rocket at the lead tank and get another hit on the turret, this one disabling the machine and doing some more damage to the rest of the pack. However, once again, their armor keeps the blast from being too disabling. The tanks ready their guns, training them on me as I utilize the final rocket in my Tempête to take out another tank.

With the last of my Tempête rockets fired, I launch myself to the side, evading the tank shells by a hair. Not seeing time to stow away the Tempête, I toss it aside before unleashing a swarm of Mp Missles at one of the more damaged-looking tanks. The full salvo manages to hit the target, downing yet another tank, leaving me with two targets in front of me as my sensors tell me that the five from the other side are creeping up on me.

“Hurry up with the tanks!” Auclair-Stolz orders, his voice screaming across the coms as he and Di’Lotta fly overhead, having destroyed another tower. Trying to follow his orders, I draw my Arashi, quickly activating my thrusters to evade a pair of shells shot my way. I return fire with a barrage of bullets that manages to down the two remaining before the rumble of a nearby blast alerts me to the closing danger of the second tank group.

As the tanks close in, I train my gun on them. Overhead, my sensors show Auclair-Stolz and Di’Lotta battling it out with one of the turrets, placing me all by myself as I fend off against the group. Not looking to give me a moment to think, the tanks open fire, raining shells on me. I do my best to evade, but one of them manages to land a hit on my right arm, causing a warning to flash through the cockpit. I try to retaliate with a burst of fire from my Arashi, but most of the spray fails to hit the target, and what does fails to pierce through the armor.

So the dance continues. I frantically dart around, trying to down the tanks with fire from my Arashi, while desperately trying to evade shots from their cannons. It becomes a desperate dance. I dart around the sky, firing down at the tanks from every odd angle I can. Many of my bullets land, but the thickness of the armor makes it so several salvos are required to down even a single tank.

Still, I manage to down two of the machines flanking the leader. The first with a lucky salvo from behind that disables the turret and the second, with a steady barrage of salvos. However, in exchange for those victories, my machine gains several scars. Careless actions earning me the chastisement of the warning systems and placing several systems in near critical condition.

Doing my best to tune out the chaotic screams, I launch an aerial assault on the lead machine. My shots find their mark and dig into the tank, sliding past damaged armor to finally down the leader. With my clip empty, I jet back and attempt to reload. However, as I do so, my machine is rocked back by an impact. Sirens scream out in agony as the status report screen gives me dreadful news: my arm has been disabled, the camera footage from my sensors showing it practically cut in half.

Down, one arm, and my main avenue of attack, my mind whirls, desperately trying to figure out what do do next.

“Kizashi! Why are there still tanks on the ground!” Auclair-Stolz shouts out through the coms, his voice joining the cacophony surrounding me. “We need to eliminate them and take out Reese-Cato’s as well!”

“Yes sir!” I reply, scrambling over the controls to grab my weapon of last resort, the M2 CCW. As I grab the unfamiliar weapon in my machine’s left hand, I feel my heart sink. Despite running several sims with the weapon equipped, I never had much training in its use. After all, it and its predecessor, the M1, were merely weapons of last resort. To be used once out of ammo or in a last-stand, like I find myself in now.

Mentally bracing myself for the tongue-lashing I know is coming, I dive toward one of the remaining two tanks, only to be forced to jet to the side as the tank fires on me. It is then that I discover another issue. With the removal of my arm’s weight, my thrust sends me further than intended, forcing me to hurriedly correct my course as the tanks prepare for another round.

Carefully, I activate my thrusters once more, jetting up more radically than I’m used to, but enough to evade the tank shells. Once more, I charge in, readying a swipe with the M1, the edge of the thick metal blade glowing red as I activate it. The tank tries to back away, but it is not enough to escape my desperate charge. My arm swings down, and despite the awkward nature, I manage to hit the target, the glowing metal sheering the turret and biting into the body of the tank.

As I boost away, the machine explodes, leaving only one target left. The tank fires at me, but with a diagonal boost forward, I am able to evade the attack and press my assault. The tank tries to back away to create some distance, but without the weight of the arm, my machine is more than fast enough to close the distance. For a brief moment, as the M1 carves through the final tank, the sirens seem like a roar of victory.

“Oh, looks like you have things covered over here. And here I was going to offer you a hand,” Reese-Cato teases, her voice somehow making its way to my ears over the mess of sirens.

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Glancing at the sensors, I see her and the rest of her unit hovering in the air over the destroyed compound. Looking over at them, I see that while they aren’t in pristine condition, they are a far cry from the worn and torn state of my machine.

“But, since we took out the base and our side of the fortress, it looks like it is my win. See you all outside.”

With that, the simulation ends, and the void melts away into the sim’s menus. I quickly exit and see Auclair-Stolz is already out of his machine, glaring at an especially smug-looking Reese-Cato.

“I’ll say you all did much better than I thought you would. I was sure that I would have to give you a hand. Good thing I didn’t put any money on this.”

“I don’t know how I managed to let you goad me into this ego massage session of yours. You know there was no way my team would beat yours!” Auclair-Stolz hisses.

“I mean, yeah, I knew we were going to win, but not for the reason you think. For starters, don’t think about whining about academy rankings. I meant what I said earlier. You all have real combat experience against Martian forces. A thousand times more valuable than outdated sims in the academy or guesswork done on the ship. Second, the main area of difference in the rankings was in the top three. Or, more accurately, Miss Perfect and us two below her. The rest of the rankings were fairly competitive, all the way down to our thirteenth.

“No, the reason we won was our strategy. One that I wanted to test under fire before sharing it with you. Thanks for letting me do so by the way.”

“Oh, and what is your oh-so-glorious strategy?”

“First, some confirmation. You did the standard split-up tactic they suggest back at the academy, right?”

“Modified, but yes.”

“Modified by you and Di’Lotta working to take out the heavy targets?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, point one. That strategy is inefficient for this type of mission. Or more accurately, how we did this mission.”

“Oh, and what makes you so confident about that?”

“My general sense of confidence and ability, as well as this test. My strategy was for us to assault targets as a unit. That allowed us to slip in faster and made it harder for a single pilot to get caught up. I saw that Kizashi over there was rocking a machine that looked more like scrap metal than an advanced war machine. If he had support, he would have been more efficient.

“Well, that or if you followed the academy strategy closer. Two and one is just not nearly efficient enough as all three together or all separate. The one scenario I see working well would be if the two served as a decoy unit, pulling focus on them as the remaining pilot went for the kill on the base, though that has its own extreme risks.

“With how we split up our forces, the three of us were able to quickly burst through the center tower. From there, we briefly split up, Philip-Arnold and Lanzenträger handling the towers and me the enemy elevator. Once we had dealt with our targets, we focused fire on the base. Of course, you did some of the work for us, but with more focused fire, it was easier to down the target. Once that was done, we dealt with the remaining targets as a unit.

“There is also one thing that must be said,” Reese-Cato says, her playful expression vanishing completely. “It must be said that, at least when it comes to tanks, our doctrine has a clear flaw.”

“So now you want to critique standard doctrine?”

“I will when it isn’t backed up by any real combat experience. As I’m sure Kizashi can tell you, the armor on the tanks is a bit thicker than I think the people in manufacturing were expecting. Our armaments were meant to deal with fighter craft rather than tanks and ships. While there are some exceptions, the main weapons we fight with struggle with the thickness and designs of the armor. However, the M2, with its heated edge, actually has an advantage when dealing with them.

“I tested it out myself. You know my preferences Auclair-Stolz, I don’t like being close to targets if I can help it. However, even I have to acknowledge its effectiveness. Before we came to this battle, we did multiple tests comparing time to kill with our standard armaments and the M2. The only weapons that rivaled it were the Foudre and the Tempête, though a full MP salvo was a runner up, though deemed far too inefficient.

“The thing is, both the Foudre and Tempête share a similar problem. The Foudre is a one-rocket option. It has the power, but it can’t get the kill in an instant unless you are spot on in your aim and manage to hit one of the few vulnerabilities in the armor. Something not at all guaranteed in the heat of combat. The Tempête has more ammunition, allowing for a greater number of attacks, which does make it a better choice, but the issues are the same. You still need that lucky, or perfect, shot.

“The M2, or the Cleaver as the Mech bay calls it, is able to carve through the armor. You really just need to get the hit to be able to get the kills you desire. In addition, with the proximity the weapon requires for its use, there is less margin of error, as it were. Sure, you have to get close, but that’s the same problem with attacking the towers in my opinion. Once you are in, it is a simple matter to remove the threat of the turret and thus the vehicle as a whole.”

“So you’re saying that this challenge of yours was a combat doctrine test for you?”

“Essentially. Though it was fun to race you all,” she laughs. “I needed the one team who I knew would be training like mad and who would mostly be sticking to doctrine as my test case. The fact that we were paired up for the assault mission just made it easier to approach you for the test. And it went swimmingly.”

“How so?”

“Well, I confirmed my suspicions about our combat doctrine, got to test out my theory, got to compare my squad to the most experienced team, and got to explain my theory to them. So, what do you think?”

“I think you are insufferable.”

“I already knew that, Wally,” Reese-Cato replies, rolling her eyes. “I mean about what I spent the last few minutes explaining?”

“Well, I will concede the possible faults with Tank doctrine, though I don’t believe you have proved the value of your focus approach. More disproved a hasty formation I designed for the mission. I shall consider your tank argument, but I believe I shall be sticking to standard doctrine for the assault.”

“Your loss, though I guess we should talk about the assault since we are on the subject. After breakfast though. I need to eat,” she says with a chuckle. “Let’s say we clean up and talk over food?”

“Fine.”

“Alright then, let’s get moving,” Reese-Cato says before heading over to grab the wipes.

“Kizashi, you know what to do. I will go and get a table,” With that Auclair-Stolz and Di’Lotta take their leave.