Nax is excited. Seven weeks of boring and non-sensical tests and exercises, moving to 3 different facilities, each gloomier and more restrictive than the last. To finally pilot the AC of his own, to carefully pick each part by himself, to paint the AC and stick decals on it any way he wished. Nax is definitely excited. Limited parts but still enough to make his AC his own, all for the purpose of wiping out the competition.
"64 Candidates, but not all of you are going to get licensed. Over the course of two weeks, you all will be competing against one another. Obviously, winning matches would be in your favor but the final selection will be based on other factors.
The first match will start 3 days from now. Pairings will be announced the day before. Should you need anything else, the AllMind AI assistant will be able to handle it."
That was what message read this morning as the program transitioned to week 8, AC Combat Aptitude test. It might as well be renamed to an AC tournament to save time. The test is to filter out the weaker pilots essentially and Nax has no intention of being one of them.
Nax had a clear vision what he wanted his AC to be, just not the parts specifically. Rapid fire, explosive, something to leave the scene with a bang. He had to admit that this 10-week long training program had its uses; the Weapons Aptitude test exposed him to a variety of setups. The explosive thrower had left an impression that made the rest of the options for the left arm feel insignificant. Now it is attached to the left arm of his test AC that's simulated on his screen, paired with a machinegun on the right, and a mix of split and 4-cell missile launchers on the shoulders. Not exactly what he had in mind but limited by parts, this would have to do.
"Besides," he thought out loud, "its all about the pilot, not the AC."
He took another look at his AC, trying to imagine the paint scheme that would make it distinguishable from miles away. A color not many would pick but still cool looking and appealing. The AC's name is Fire Starter, so ideally the whole spectrum between red to yellow. Add some black to contrast the bright colors. But it will have to wait, his match is starting in a couple hours and he'd rather go through performance tests in the simulator rather than paint.
And, surprisingly, before he knew it. His comm headset pinged a couple of times, with a message informing him to report to his designated Core within 30 minutes.
The Core, as the pilot candidates unanimously referred to the Simulation Pod assigned exclusively to each one, had become something of a second home to Nax. Actually, it's more like a second body, an extension of his own that made him interlinked with his AC, albeit a simulated one. On screen, Nax could see the brackets of the entire... tournament, 32 pairs and a total of 6 rounds to go through. The matches are more spread out in the first few rounds, but ultimately through some meticulous organization, the whole tournament would be done by the end of week 9. Thus, making week 10, the final week before he gets officially licensed as an AC Pilot Mercenary. Almost there.
The count down timer reach zero, Nax's AC took only a step as the Assault Boosters charged then expelled superheated gas, propelling the AC into the air just a few meters off the ground and straight towards his opponent. The opposing AC opened up the fight with a bazooka round at the incoming AC. A futile effort, a quick tilt of the controls and Pheonix's left side jets shot a powerful burst, shifting the AC mid-flight to its right while maintaining it's course. The whistle of the shell was audible as it flew past Pheonix, now reaching the outer limit of its weapons. It fired off its missiles, both shoulders, their trajectories putting them in a wide angle like a wave coming to crash at the opposing AC. In an attempt to dodge out of the way, the opposing AC also gave a powerful burst to the side, Quick Boosting a couple times in the side direction. A couple missiles still stuck the AC and Pheonix was close enough to pelt it with its machine gun. Pheonix kept machine gun firing to cover the missile launches, forcing the opposing AC to strain the generator till it ran out of energy. The plan worked and the latest missile salvo nearly all hit and the AC recoiled and staggered with each one. Pheonix moved in with a burst from its rear jets, and with a flourish of its left arm swinging a wide arc from right to left, the explosive thrower showered the entire view ahead with smaller explosions.
Nax could see his opponent's AC down to roughly 40% AP, a grin drawing on his face. Let's finish th-. His thought got rudely interrupted as the opposing AC had the time to line up its Bazooka and shoot point black at Pheonix, followed by a double 360 laser blade swing that further jolted the AC's systems as the HUD flicked and shook violently for Nax. The conclusion to the combo came as another bazooka shot to the face before the opposing AC decided to withdraw to a safe distance, and now firing his own missiles, the vertical ones, at Phoenix. Phoenix exploded into action again, assault boosting towards his prey, launching missile salvos from both his shoulders simultaneously and following up with the machine gun. This time however, the opposing pilot is taking this seriously; his AC's manoeuvres were becoming more well timed and reflexive that the missile salvos were being scattered wide. Nax gritted his teeth and pushed forward the controls. Phoenix complied and rapidly closed the gap to the opposing AC, followed by a sudden burst to the side narrowly missing the bazooka shell that shot past it. Phoenix then drew its left arm to across its torso and swung it back the other way, unleashing another fiery wall of explosions onto the opposing AC. Still holding that pose, Pheonix let loose another missile salvo that had no problem connecting to the now staggered AC, breaking its defence and disabling it for this current bout.
The Arena dissolved to black and reappeared showing a wholly different environment. Not that it matter much, this one was still open area with a clear view of his opponent that he'd just beaten. In best of 3, he's determined not to give his opponent a chance to get back into it.
Two rounds later, a week after his first match, Nax is face to face with someone he had hoped to avoid till the last couple rounds. Semi-Finals or even Quarter-finals at least. The match ups were coming relatively faster the more competitors get knocked out, that going up against one of his friends, Eclipse, blind-sided him. Now staring at his yellow and silver AC, sporting dual laser pistols in its hands, missile launcher and a laser dagger on the shoulder mounts, Nax was a little conflicted about how this match should go. He snorted despite himself as he took another look at the AC, aside from being prominently yellow, the legs were panted in different shades of blue, looking like it wore jeans.
"Whatever happens, no hard feelings, bro." Nax said as the timer counted down.
At the buzzer, both ACs raced forward using their Assault Boost, Eclipse's AC opening fire early despite being out of optimum range while Nax's Pheonix fired off missile salvos ahead of him. The initial beams dissipated across Pheonix's armor but then the damage was exponentially burning through its AP. Nax now added his machine gun to the assault, squinting as the beams splashed in bright flash that only the targeting reticle gave any indication how close the two AC were. There was a shift in the rhythm of laser attacks and in that instant Nax realized Eclipse was in perfect distance for a boost kick. He grinned and shifted the AC to lean on one side for a kick, and internally fist pumped as the AC twisted to right to swing the left leg in full force. He braced for the satisfying impact... nothing. Nax cursed as he saw the opposing AC just a step shy from his own, in bracing stance with the left arm extended, time slowed just enough for him to see the laser dagger unfold, its edge charge with energy, and in almost finisher style motion blur the opposing AC dash past him with a swipe that left a blue freeze frame arc that cut through his AC. Pheonix got knocked back from the sudden impact but it wasn't enough to stagger it, giving it the chance to counter with the explosive thrower at close range. That one, however, was enough to stagger Eclipse's AC, and Phoenix wasn't going to miss this one. With a burst from the forward jets to withdraw the AC further back, Phoenix launched another missile salvo with the machine gun trigger held down hard up till the AC burst into movement again.
Eclipse's AC switched back to dual laser pistols and while not impacting Pheonix enough to cause concern for stagger, the energy weapons were still doing significant damage compared to his single machine gun. The missiles were flying both ways towards the ACs, strafing in circles as they exchange fire. At one point, Eclipse's AC stopped firing, pulling its weapons back against its shoulders with steam and its indicators glowing red. Overheated. Pheonix charged ahead with its Assault Boost trying to take advantage of the temporarily lack of counter fire and released another spray of explosives at a wide arc to cover the area his opponent would side-step to. Except, like the previous time, the AC didn't dodge in any direction but rather charged forward with its laser dagger now parallel to its arm swiping across the core, reversing the blade to an elbow jab, and forward again for a downward slash. Phoenix jumped backward just as the final slash came down and did a half twirl counter clockwise, extending the explosive thrower from its mount, then unleashed the scatter bombs vertically, engulfing the opposing AC in fiery explosions. And to Nax's relief, the follow up explosion confirmed the AC's defence faltering and shutting down.
Nax couldn't quite remember how the second match went, or the third if there was one, but he only had the vague sensation that he had won. That also capped off his high spirits with the realization that by eliminating Eclipse before top 8 makes him less likely to get his mercenary license. Alice was knocked out by the first round and he hadn't seen her since. If Eclipse would be gone too...
"This place would suck ass!" he said out loud, startling the staff checking his vitals. Nax put a calming hand over the staff's shoulder and smiled. "Not you, buddy. Sorry about that."
Top 8, three more matches and he'll be number 1 in this batch. That's as high as it goes when shooting for the stars, and then, he knew, his reputation as a merc would covet the highest pay. Pulling out his tablet to check his next opponents, to see that his next match is the following day against the guy that punched him in the face way back when. Nax isn't the person to hold onto to grudges but... the universe would be right again once he beat him.
"Careful with that guy. He's augmented." The staff pointed out, eyes still on his computer to writing up the medical stuff Nax could never understand. The quiet lingered a bit and the staff eventually swung in his seat towards him. "Augmented pilots interface with the core a lot more seamlessly, therefor having better control and reflex, therefor being better pilots. I really shouldn't be telling you this but since you've been doing impressively so far, you deserve to know what's going on around here."
Nax put away his tablet and stared hard at the person sitting in front of him. Bracing mentally for what sounds to become a shock session.
"This facility is obviously an AC combat simulator, designed with the goal of testing and filtering the best pilots from the rest. Corporations especially keep this place on watch since they try to recruit the top pilots to their forces. But that's not all that's happening here; there's an augmentation laboratory hidden from sight. That's where the real nightmares lie... Some see it as a utility to make use, others as an opportunity to improve, and some still see it as a salvation to overcome whatever shortcomings they had.
The candidates who... didn't make the grade throughout the program, they were sent here and given the choice to undergo the surgery or leave. Those who accepted were already deployed to wherever their sponsors needed them. The same option will be given to you by the end of all this, to undergo augmentation or not. And if you want to stay the strongest amongst lions, I would really consider it. Because most of the others would certainly do it for that very reason, if not to just outright survive."
The medical staff looked away for a bit, as if contemplating his own words, then got up to usher Nax out of the room mentioning that he needed the bed free for the other candidates to come, leaving Nax to mull over the implications of this news. It was disturbing to say the least. Facing a gifted pilot is one thing, facing a gifted and augmented pilot is asking for trouble. If it's true what he said that augmentation surgeries give pilots that extra edge... No, Nax was overthinking it. His match is tomorrow against this augmented pilot. He'll evaluate him then.
No such luck. Just as he was getting into his Core, mentally watching the technicians go through the multiple straps and carefully placing and locking the helmet in place. The screens in front of him didn't load in the arena details that usually precede the match, his dread was confirmed when the message popped up on the screen saying "Match Cancelled". And just like that, all the technicians, including Nax, sighed in disappointment. The worst part of it all is that now Nax had nothing to do till the next match up, aside from watching the other match. At least Diab is still going strong, that lady is better than she thinks. But Eclipse... it's really unfortunate he had to drop out early. Hopefully someone would be able to sponsor him at the very least if his chances of getting officially licensed is lowered.
"Congratulations on finishing Second Place. The match had us at the edge of our seats and we were sure you would've come out on top if things played out differently." The suited man said as he poured coffee into two cups and handed one to Nax sitting on the opposite chair.
The sting of the loss still itched but he couldn't really summon any hate or complaint about the winner; she was a friend, and she won that match by outplaying him in the end so it was well deserved. He felt like mentally slapping himself for the stunt of dumping all his missiles and grenade thrower straight into the pulse buckler that came up at just the right moment to negate most, if not all, that damage. In turn, hidden behind the shield, Diab charged her Linear Rifle and shot him point blank, overloading his AC's ACS, staggering him and followed up with missiles and a wicked whirlwind kick from her Quad-legged AC for the victory.
"Thanks, the better pilot won, so I can't be angry about it." Nax finally replied pulling the coffee closer to take a whiff of the aroma as it slowly cooled to drinkable temperatures. "So, who are you guys supposed to be? We saw people in suits like yours a few weeks ago and then vanish without a word."
"The Corporations hire AC pilot mercenaries on various frontiers for a multitude of tasks and jobs, it shouldn't surprised you that we want to keep track of the potential pilots as well."
"You're from the Corporations?"
"Da Feng Industries to be specific, yes, and we want to offer you an opportunity to work for us exclusively. To be part of our expeditionary team for a top secret mission abroad."
Nax knew what was coming even before sitting here, he'd already been contacted by other Corporation representatives with similar offers. Playing oblivious always seem to make these people want to talk more about their agenda instead of being defensive and cautious about their offers when compared to others. Da Feng is under Balam Industries, and Nax couldn't recall if he had met them yet, that means their offer would be relatively less than Balam or Arquebus as they are the two tops dogs at the moment.
"Let's be clear about something here. My performance almost guarantees me getting officially licensed by AllMind as a Mercernary AC Pilot. Meaning I would be one of the independent ones that take on jobs by anyone and everyone for the right price. Not only that, but I wouldn't be limited in the parts I use to build my AC." He took a sip from his coffee just to let the meaning sink in for a minute. "I'd have to have a very good reason to give up that kind of privilege."
The guy in front of him just smiled politely, seemingly not offended or off balanced. He draw out his contact card and slid it gently towards Nax, body shifting to get up and leave.
"Da Feng believes in establishing solid core relationships with all associates and clients. So I apologise if your impression of us isn't up to par with your expectations. Should you wish to have this discussion another point of time, we'd be glad to pick up where we left off."
The suited man got up and took his cup with him as he made his way to the door. It wasn't till he had actually left that Nax noticed that the contact card wasn't actually Da Feng's. But rather it had a red emblem and in bold letters RED GUNS. Contact name: G2 Nile.
The name wasn't familiar to him but he had to admit the title sounded catchy.
As he finished his coffee, his mind finally caught up with the thought that the 10-week program was almost over. He pulled out his Comm. Device and checked the AllMind program schedule. Just the usually medical check up tomorrow and then Mission Simulation by start of next week. As with every other program title, nothing else is mentioned about what would happen then but at this point, how hard can it really be?