Codi was in the mess hall of the cruiser with Gareth and Ripple when an announcement speared out over the interior communications system telling them that they were now on a close orbit approach to Mars. The wait was over. Gareth stood and motioned for her to follow.
"C'mon," he said. "You'll want to be on the observations decks when we go down. It's awesome."
Codi didn't need a second bidding, abandoning her half-eaten food and following him through the halls.
The Hercules could have housed the whole academy if they'd needed it to: it was an enormous ship inside and out. The interior was made up of smooth arched hallways that glided their way around the vessel, lit by a single snaking line of white light that ran along the roof of every single route like a vein of power.
Codi had spent the better part of the previous day's travel just wandering the ship, entranced by its technological beauty. She would make her way to the edges of the ship where the long observation platforms had been built, allowing her look out into the glittering vastness of space. When she'd eventually adjusted for it and deigned to go to her cabin for the night she was rewarded further with a large, comfortable room with all the amenities supplied.
Luxury. A word that was creeping into her life measure by measure. Codi found that she was enjoying the sensation.
When they arrived at the port side observation deck it became clear that all the recruits knew this was not a sight to be missed. Every single fighter on the ship clustered around the enormous ovular window to look out, and there, approaching out of the dark, was the crimson globe of Mars.
One of the home colonies, Mars had its own substantial network of space stations in orbit and the long, ringed cigar tubes turned lazily as the Hercules soared past them. Shuttles and smaller ships filled the skies, some leaving, some arriving, all of them adding another tiny burst of light and life to the Martian skies. On the planet itself the man-made features paled into insignificance, dwarfed by the 2,500 mile scar of the Valles Marineris.
A rumble juddered through the ship as the Hercules smashed into the atmosphere of the red planet, causing a ripple of whoops, yelps and the occasional shriek to pass through the assembled Battlecast recruits. A faint orange glow rose up beneath them, just visible from the superheating armour plates on the cruiser's underside.
The shaking lasted for only a moment, before the ship broke through the atmosphere and its anti-gravity engines thundered into life. Even encased in its metal body Codi could hear the roar as the colossal boosters fired, keeping the behemoth aloft and guiding them along the next leg of their journey.
At this high altitude she could see the Olympus Mons volcano and her eyes widened in amazement as for the first time she started to get to grips with the scale of the thing. It was truly vast, a shield volcano that sprawled out over an area of almost four hundred miles and climbing a staggering sixteen miles high. She caught a brief glimpse of the summit before the Hercules dropped lower on its approach. Suddenly she felt very, very small.
Their flight toward the volcano took them over a dozen of the larger Martian cities. They were smaller than their steel-sheathed counterparts on Earth, but still large in their own right – the capital, Tarshish now swelled to house well over three million people. They squatted low against the red landscape, huge conurbations of black-stone structures that glimmered and glittered with civilisation. Built within the triangle of land that spread between Olympus Mons and the Tharsis Montes Plateau, this monumental region was home to three quarters of the planet's population.
The Hercules began its descent towards the bulbous sprawl of Tarshish's main spaceport and it was not alone. Codi caught sight of other ships bearing academy livery joining them on the pilgrimage to the biggest mountain in the solar system. Most of them were smaller – some barely shuttles – and she felt a sense of pride that she had been able to take the journey aboard the most impressive vessel in the sky.
With a certain degree of reluctance, Codi gathered her kit and joined the others as they trooped down the boarding ramps of the Hercules and out into the Tarshish port. From there the recruits were swiftly herded onto bullet-shaped trains waiting just outside the docks, ready to sling them out of the city and to the legendary academy itself. Once their precious cargo had been loaded, the trains set off at a ferocious pace along lines of jet black paving into the red deserts.
When they cleared the urban settlements and came into sight of the Mars academy itself, Codi couldn't stop staring. It was utterly different to the sprawling urban complex employed by Battlecast, instead having been hewn out of the very rock of the massive volcano. Rather than actually building something massive, those behind the inception of the Olympus Mons academy opted to utilise the natural landscape of their world instead.
Having cut the building straight into the face of the six-mile-high cliff face that marked the volcano's southern edge, they'd created the imposing sensation that their academy was a gateway to a world beneath the mountain. Actually being on the surface of the planet now, Codi could no longer see the whole profile of Olympus Mons – it was so huge it stretched well over the horizon with gentle slopes that climbed beyond what the naked eye could see.
"They certainly know how to make a point," she murmured to Gareth. "I'll give them that much."
He smirked. "You get used to it, but yeah, it's pretty impressive if you've never seen it before."
She thought she could hear a mocking edge in his voice but tried to ignore it. Now was not the time for anyone to be opening old grudges. Besides, she was new to all this – no point hiding from the fact.
As they drew closer they started passing vast open arenas and training fields, some of which were currently in use by either the Olympus Mons fighters or visitors that had arrived for the tournament. Friendly pre-tournament clashes were already underway between the early arrivals and as always, the colonial media made its presence abundantly clear. Drones and small in-atmosphere craft spiralled and swooped on proceedings – one even flew along side the train for several seconds, its camera lens leering in on the Battlecast occupants. Codi recoiled against her seat at the invasion.
The civilian population was clearly in evidence too. Prefabricated camps clogged up the open spaces between arenas and training grounds where swarms of tournament goers gathered in what looked like a carnival. Blazing fireworks lit up the evening sky, accompanied by garish light shows that emblazoned themselves upon the thinly-clouded atmosphere.
Then just like that they arrived. The bullet trains halted as abruptly as they'd accelerated and the Battlecast representatives scrambled for gear bags, eager to make their mark on a new world. Codi joined them and the wildfire of determination gripped her.
***
Day one, round one – it was time for them to make good on the three weeks of practice they'd had since the calamitous tournament on Earth. Codi met Gareth's rock-hard stare as they took up their positions for the paired bout against their rivals at Atlantic Academy. She could feel the slight tug of the gravity tether as the distance between them waxed and waned. Training had been going well, but now it was time to really put it to the test.
Codi recognised both fighters – a pair of veterans from last year's competition – and the roiling heat of Gauntlet competition began seeping through her bones. The clear, red tinged sky of Mars opened out above them, swallowing the roaring of the spectators into the air. Bowl-shaped coliseum was one of many open arenas that today thrummed with Gauntlet energy.
More media drones swooped and dipped, keeping close watch on the coming clash, but she ignored them, focusing on the game plan. It was time to win, and win hard. Codi glanced around, noting the main features of the arena. Two long, thin ramps formed a narrow corridor between the pairs, and up and down that corridor other obstacles were scattered. Obstacles or tools.
Moving over alongside Gareth, she spoke low so only he could hear. "No screwing around," she said. "Make them react. And remember the game plan."
"Gotcha." Gareth nodded without looking at her, his face a picture of concentration. Whatever their previous differences, he wanted to win this fight just as badly as her.
Keeping the tether at its minimum two metres, she stalked out toward the black rectangle in the floor that marked their starting position. The announcer's voice thundered out the names of the competitors, generating explosions of noise from the fans. Codi blocked it all out, listening for one sound.
The klaxon blared.
She burst into motion, sprinting hard for the slope of the left hand wall and she could hear Gareth hard on her heels. Hitting the base of the ramp, she pumped her legs harder, dialling up the localised gravity of the exoskeleton to add weight to her body. Her companion, didn't mount the ramp, instead running parallel to her, straight at the two Atlantic fighters like a missile. Just before he reached them Codi barked out a signal.
"Hike!"
Jerking her right arm up, she felt a slight increase in weight and looked down. Sure enough, their plan was working. With his gravity setting unchanged Gareth allowed himself to be pulled upward, not allowing the tether to extend as they drew further apart. It happened so fast that the boy from Atlantic couldn't halt to get out of the way, only able to throw his arms up in front of him in a boxer's block as Gareth clothes-lined him with his free arm.
While the Atlantic fighter might have avoided the worst of the exchange, the impact still knocked him flat on his back and the crowd went wild.
But they hadn't finished there. The Battlecast fighters' switch happened seamlessly as they swapped around their gravity fields, leaving Gareth to haul her off the ramp and virtually lash her at the other fighter.
Codi smashed into the girl in a flying tackle. To her credit, the Atlantic fighter rode the worst of it, back peddling with the impact and simultaneously letting out slack in her tether. Codi did the same so as not to accidentally hinder herself when the two started inevitably brawling. Then she just needed to hunt for an opening and make it count. Glancing behind her she saw Gareth descending on the other Atlantic competitor in a hail of punches and kicks. He might get the first window and if he did she needed to be ready for it.
The two girls started exchanging blows and although Codi managed to land a handful of solid hits she couldn't expose her opponent enough to get the killer opening that she needed. The girl was no powerhouse, but she was obviously competent and her experience showed as she absorbed the worst of the punishment. Frustration was beginning to build up when a sudden yell burst into her ears.
"Hammer left!" Gareth's voice rose above the clamouring crowds and a jolt of excitement raced through her.
Now or never.
Instantly she let her body go slack, releasing the gravity on every part of the exoskeleton and pivoting away from her adversary. She jumped and an instant later a violent tug on the tether sent her flying through the air. Codi twisted and saw Gareth connect a thunderous haymaker against his opponent's jaw, sending the other boy reeling backwards. For the unfortunate fighter, however, the worst was yet to come.
The force from Gareth's swing dragged Codi along on the same trajectory as his fist and he folded down into a crouch to provide a clear target. Dialling up the gravity in her legs, Codi plunged downwards, angling both feet towards the blue-clad Atlantic fighter. The boy managed to straighten up, just in time to take the full, crushing impact of both her feet solidly in his chest plate.
Without time to add weight to his exoskeleton and brace for impact, the boy was fired backwards as though he'd been shot out of a cannon. And he wasn't the only one. The sheer momentum also brought his team mate along for the ride.
Codi had to duck as the girl went flying overhead with a yelp of dismay and when she straightened up again to look both of the Atlantic recruits were soaring away from them with frightening speed. Both fighters smashed into the low triangular ramp with bone shaking force and collapsed down in a heap of limbs. They didn't get up.
The klaxon blared again to sound the end of the bout and a shriek of triumph ripped from Codi's throat as she turned to face the screaming Battlecast supporters. Quick. Clean. Decisive.
Unstoppable.
She turned to Gareth, whose wolfish features had creased into a feral grin, and thumped him on his chest plate with a whoop.
"We did it!" she laughed, feeling her tension melt away as the applause washed over her.
"Damn right we did," Gareth agreed, and she could see the hunger shining in his eyes. This proved that, on their game, they made a very dangerous pairing. She knew exactly how he felt. One win wasn't enough. They would be striving for the biggest prize of them all, and against all her wildest expectations they'd be doing it side by side.