"Atten-tion!"
The voice boomed in a full militaristic authority around the testing grounds. All 24 AC pilots heard it regardless of their positions in the expansive landscape. Every group of 3 ACs had a distinct paint on their left arm, and each AC was typically distinct of each other according to the pilots' design choices and preferences.
"I won't waste time with inspirational talks. Only the Last Team standing, regardless of the remaining ACs, will win this round. You have one target: The Fort highlighted on your display.
You all chose your ACs, you all chose your partners, and you chose your starting points. There are no rules in this game. So, no excuses. Move out!"
It was a simple set up: a Free For All arena, with the many biomes crammed into a single battle field. From forested areas, barren wastelands, to mountains to use for cover. While the Fort might be the primary target, the actual goal of the test is to outlast every other team. Yet a handful of teams decided to start relatively close to the Fort in hopes to either take the lead early, or rush into the melee and take out as many ACs as they could. One group that clearly fit the bill was the group of tank-legged ACs carrying serious firepower. They might be asking to be jumped on early in the game but there's no doubt that whoever ends up within their zone isn't coming out unscathed.
Hessa ran through all the AC's system diagnostics for the umpteenth time, unable to stop the stir in the pit of her stomach despite her self-pep talk while Major Diab was explaining the exercise over the speakers. Being her close and dear uncle did not make it any easier for mentally prepare for the upcoming fight, and neither would their shared name guarantee her pass. She tried vainly to take a deep calming breath, only for it to come out in stuttering exhales.
"DIAB IX, are you okay?" Her team's Operator, Gala Matar, asked her privately out of the team's communications frequency. Gala had been Hessa's closest friend since childhood, or as close as people from different families can be. Family names carry their own weight in her society, with the elite few standing atop everyone else, making the need to succeed this test even more stressful than it already is. In fact, it's not too far off the mark to say that this whole exercise is a chance to usher the winning clan to the forefront, and calling those who held those spots into question for not being able to retain their reputation of producing the finest heirs in whichever field they're in. The Diab Family were proud fighters, Warriors, mostly excelling in Military, Police and Security Forces. With the few exception work desk job, but non-the-less in higher positions of their field. Hessa was now at the point where all the family's eyes were on her, the point that makes or breaks a person. And she was not about to fail this one.
"I'm fine, Gala. Just feeling the pressure again."
"You'll get through this, I know it. You've gone through this so many times before and came out on top. This won't be any different."
A large rifle crossed Hessa's screen, her teammate's AC was pointing somewhere ahead a bit off from the Fort. Only just realizing her team comm. channel was muted. She quickly unmuted and grabbed hold of the controls to which the AC responded by flexing its arms slightly to ready position.
"-ust because we can take them out doesn't make it the smartest move." DIAB VI said. His AC had reverse jointed legs, equipped with a rifle and machinegun on its arms with a shotgun and pile bunker slung on the shoulders. Designed for constant harassment up till the pilot gets the opening to land a deadly blow with the pile bunker.
"Still sounds cowardly to hang back and pounce when they're all half dead." DIAB V replied sourly, swapping his plasma rifle with his Linear Rifle on the Left shoulder. The right side of the AC sported a missile launcher on the shoulder and laser handgun on the right arm. The AC was more well rounded on bipedal legs, designed to stay on the move while firing a variety of weapons. "I'd rather we tackle whatever team we run into on the way to the Fort."
"what I'm saying is: we don't even need to take the Fort. The game is to be the last squad standing, right?"
Both ACs tilted their head towards Hessa's tetrapod AC, waiting for her input in the discussion. More likely, waiting for her decision since she's the team leader in unspoken squad rules. "The Fort is just a distraction, and the teams that chose to start there will most likely get all the attention. Especially that tank squad that happen to be right between us and the Fort, I want to avoid them as long as possible and circle around the Fort and jump the other ones."
Her partners nodded in silent agreement then turned towards the same direction, keeping the Fort at their peripheral to the left. Even though they all activated their Assault Boosters simultaneously, they launched one after the other in a well-timed sequence. It didn't take long before the fire works started, the landscape to their left flashed a few times before the sound caught up and boomed through the interior speakers: a mix of rapid fire, punctuated with a couple explosions and dull thuds of some high caliber weapon.
On screen, the remaining squads was already down to 6 barely a couple of minutes into the engagement. "This is not funny! Two squads down already!?" D6 spoke over comms. His AC raised its arms in front, as if anticipating attacks or resisting the urge to pull the triggers. "Calm down. Just keep your wits about. Activating Scanning Pulse in 5... 4... 3..." Hessa replied and then sending out a scanning pulse as she finished her count down. No signs of any ACs. The team dropped to the ground at different intervals then reactivated their Assault Boost as soon as their Energy was recharged. Half a minute later, and a slight tilt towards the Fort, D6 sent out his scan pulse to check the area. This time, a couple pings came back, two ACs materialized in front of them in holographic matrix. Coming out of Assault Boosts, the scan didn't even get the time to fully frame the ACs before they became visible in real time. Hessa didn't even get the chance to figure out the configuration of the ACs when the ACs unleashed a bullet storm towards them, breaking up their formation to avoid damage.
The team split apart in a triangular formation, Hessa's AC took the air and activated its hover boosters to stabilize its elevation, then proceeded to fire both sniper and assault rifles equipped on the arms, followed by missiles that spread out around the AC before flying straight to their targets. Her comrades D5 and D6 split to the sides but quickly homed in towards the closest AC, pouncing on the prey like wolves while Hessa pressured them from above. The enemy team's third member was missing, but seeing how quickly these two went down, they might've been hit hard already and were avoiding confrontations. Unlucky. The remaining squads counter dropped to 5... 4... 3. Hessa's team only had one engagement and the test is almost over. On one hand they're relatively on the healthier side, barely any damage with lots of ammo to spare. On the other, being out of the action makes them relatively cold; warriors know that being in the heat of battle heightens one's senses. Better awareness of their surroundings, a much higher reflex to danger, and near perfect clarity of how to engage the enemy.
The Squad came to a halt at the end of the tree line with the Fort in clear view ahead of them. Things were relatively quiet. No gun shots despite there being two other squads remaining. That didn't last long when a flicker of light caught Hessa's attention to her left and she saw the 3 Tank ACs Assault Boosting around the parameter of the Fort. It wasn't till she saw missiles rain down on the tanks that she noticed the other squad of ACs holding the Fort from elevated positions. It looked like the Tanks were provoking them to waste their ammunition as they deftly dodged out of incoming fire when they could, taking the damage but to minimal effect when they couldn't. At one point, one of the tanks would intentionally hang back and use its thrusters to fly upwards and climb the Fort to assault the team from their blind spot before dropping down out of the retaliating fire storm.
"Crap, they saw us!" D6 alerted them. And like a pack of wolves, the Tanks all made a mad dash towards Hessa's Squad, ignoring and even out running the incoming fire behind them.
The team broke off to their usual strategy: Hessa taking the air, and her partners strafing to the flanks to pick out the weakest link. Except Hessa became the weakest link, the Tank Trio fired round after round of devastating grenades till a couple struck her squarely on the core. The AC shook violently, and the stabilizing thrusters were shut off to maintain all essential AC systems, giving itself to gravity and crashing to the dirt beneath. As the Tank Trio came towards her, D5 and D6 got to work on the AC furthest in the back. They riddled the rear with bullets before D6 finished it off with his AC's Pile Bunker that had swapped with his arm weapon, landing neatly at the back of the AC which disabled it permanently till the end of the match.
Hessa tried everything on the controls and panels to get the AC back online. She could feel her stress level reaching the point of hyper-ventilating as the two tank ACs kept their unrelenting attacks that were akin to being knocked around with mallets. Finally, the lights on her panels and controls turned green again and the first instinct went to deploy the shield equipped on the AC's shoulder that just about caught the incoming shells, absorbing the bursts into the bright green pulse energy shield. She kept the shield up long enough for her to kick the ground and launch the AC up in the air again and retaliate with her own rifles and missiles. Puncturing holes into the lead tank-legged AC while just beyond it, D5 and D6 were already pouncing on the 2nd AC. Feeling the tide of battle shifting back to their favor, Hessa kept trading shots with the tank AC knowing full well that she had the advantage in Armor Points (AP) and mobility. At her peripheral, she saw the 2nd Tank AC still trying to tackle both ACs on its own, but rather than evading fire, it kept maneuvering to their flank which caused her partners to fall out of step of each other and nearly collide. That's when the AC seemed to encase itself in an electric bubble. And before she could hear D6's warning, the AC unleashed a devastating electromagnetic burst, catching both her partners' ACs and barely searing the tail end of the Tank-legged AC that's still on an aggressive charge towards her.
Gritting her teeth, she launched the missiles just as the Assault Boost yanked her forward midair. With a deft twist on the controls, she turned her AC 180 degrees to face the tank again and fire rounds after rounds of rifle fire, the AC swapping magazines as quickly as it could to maintain the pressure. The tank AC suddenly tilted forward as if shoved from behind; the missiles she had launched earlier finally struck, hard. It staggered, and like the time when Hessa's AC got knocked down, and was now sitting helpless till the AC internal systems were restored. Hessa didn't let go of the triggers and kept firing till she could see the AC catching fire and then silently twitch as if electrocuted then tilt to one side, disabled and the fire put out.
Before she could even draw breath, her AC got hit hard from behind, dropping her AP to yellow. She turned just in time to see two AC charging full tilt towards her: the last remaining squad from the Fort. The lead AC whose shoulder weapon was encased in blue electrical charge, recoiled as it released fiery blue energy beam towards her. It tore through the dust between them, determined to be the finishing blow to end the combat exercise once and for all.
Only to slam and dissipate onto the pulse shield Hessa's AC put up last second to deflect the worst of the damage. The AC didn't get the chance to fire anything else as D6 leapt out of nowhere and landed a sickening pile driver blow to the side. Still using the momentum of the spin to look over its other shoulder to finish off the attack with a shotgun blast to the face. Hessa didn't catch what happened to the other AC as D5 was standing with both weapons pointed at the disable AC.
It was then that a loud buzzer rang throughout the combat zone, signaling the end of the fight, followed by slow claps over the speakers.
"Good job, Cadets. That was one hell of a show. The Harb Squad were the most impressive; knocking out the majority of the competition even when they got outnumbered early on.
Moving on, the top 10 pilots, our academy Aces, will be leaving this Academy and move on to the next level of tests, and hopefully become Official AC Pilots. That means the top 3 squads plus 1 pilot that the evaluation panel will select by the end of the day to join the rest.
You've made us proud today. Don't let us down on your next tests."
That was then. Hessa would like to think she's doing well so far being the only Diab of the family to make it this far. Even her uncle, distinguished as he was, is an MT pilot. A tough MT pilot that can go toe-to-toe with ACs but an MT pilot nonetheless. Unlike the virtual battlefield in the academy, the AC simulator she's piloting right now is more realistic, with all the painful rocking, shuddering, and recoiling from moving around and getting hit. Her knowledge and skills in piloting at the Academy were helpful to a point, none of which helped her through the grueling past 5 weeks that had nothing to do with ACs, and everything to do with her own physical and psychological aptitude. They most certainly did not help her relatives that came with her; only she had been able to come out the first week relatively sane, shaky but sane. The others were out 3 days in.
It had been a lonely journey for a while. It didn't help that the animosity between the three other clans that came with hers made it even harder to connect with anyone. It wasn't till week 3 that she started gravitating towards a small group of people, and eventually she became less tense about seeking them out after every exercise to talk about what had happened. Alice had a knack for constantly pestering her to tag along, sometimes to the point of bodily dragging her, during meal times and whenever they had more time to roam free after short exercises/tests. That's when she met two other candidates: Nax and Omar. The latter was dark skinned and seemed permanently in good spirits, smiling through the worst of the tests. Not so much crazy smiling that a couple of candidates had plastered on their faces after week one, but a kind of soft smile that would've pacified any hostilities anyone had against him. Not to mention he seemed to have a million interests that allowed him to slip in with any group he walks into. Nax on the other hand seemed... reserved but full of energy at the same time. Like waiting for that spark that unleashes all he has bottled in but is letting it out in controlled bursts.
Hessa shook off the distraction from her head and gripped the controls tightly. Week 6 of the AC tests were about AC Control Aptitude and whoever designed these tests was really pushing the limits of how extreme, and creative, the settings of these obstacle courses and scenarios. The tests can take anywhere between 10 minutes to 10 hours depending on how a person tackles the problem. This one was shaping up to be the latter; All ACs were required to equip tank-treads for legs with the freedom of picking one of 3 available to them that varied in weight, energy consumption and boost power as the most relevant stats to this exercise. She picked the most energy efficient, rationalizing it to aid her in be able to maneuver more reliably with the boosters. The spacious testing room dimmed to pitch black, she could hear the panels, walls, floor and ceiling shifting and rearranging around her. Within seconds the room lit up from the ceiling, and the room became a pit with a few panels acting as stepping stones towards a platform that is at least a couple floors higher than her current position.
The tank-legged AC rolled towards the edge and as soon as Hessa activated the boosters the floor fell away and she drove the AC to the nearest platform. Her AC's Energy bar refilled almost instantly when it landed and a timer popped onto her screen. Mere seconds, which prompted Hessa to quickly scout out the next platform before launching her AC towards it. After a few successful platforming, Hessa ran out of options as the other platforms were too far to reach on regular boosters alone. She gritted her teeth and dug her thumb to activate the Assault Boosters, launching the AC towards the platform she was hoping to reach.
Except the energy ran out and the AC dropped into the pit and landed hard on pitch black floor. A marker and waypoint flashed on her screen with the briefing on the top left telling her to return to the starting point. Hessa let out a long agonizing sigh, today was indeed going to be a 10 hour exercise.
"Academy Ace my foot."