Winning the Battle

Harrison let the move sink into his head. “C4 to D5”. So short and so simple the words were but they carried so much weight. The first fight of the season. His first fight in the League. Everyone would be watching him. He couldn’t fail.

Harrison began to move the Pilgrim into position. D5 itself had grown brighter as the remainder of the bored grew dim. The mechs on either side of the board stood motionless in the background illuminated not by their features but their silhouettes backlit from the audience seating. Harrison continued to move until he reached the corner of his square. A column of light reached into the sky in front of him. Within the light stood his opponent, the Pawn Adeline. Her unit was stocky, shoulder based. It was much shorter than the Pilgrim but what it lacked in size it made up for with brawn. She stood staring at him, leering even. Despite not being able to express emotion through a unit most humans could feel a vibe when it’s put out. Adeline was not to be played with; she must be dealt with.

Harrison stepped through the light changing the column from a beam to two small spaces in each corner of the board. Adeline began walking to the space behind her and Harrison walked to the other. Once in position, the individual spaces disappeared as the light columns remerged. Harrison and Adeline’s stats appeared on boards all over the stadium from small personal screens in the hands of the audience members to the electronic banners hanging from the support beams. As Harrison stood looking onward, checking his own stats for favorable depiction he noticed that Adeline had been listed as an “Aggressor” for her play style. “It would be best to wait for her to move first.” Harrison thought.

Harrison turned back to his own stat card before pausing at his play style description. “Wild Card”. It was true that Harrison never catered to any one style. His father was a strategist often basing his attack or defense off his opponent, so he taught Harrison to rely heavily on intel. His mother on the other hand was a support, often protected or roaming with larger units in the war. She would assist in the fight, but she would rely on her team to cover her if things got hairy, so she didn’t go in with an attack plan as much as she went in with resources for versatility. Harrison adopted a mix of both, a loadout of various weapons and tools designed to adapt as much as they were to conquer. No special hammer or sword, not list of moves that would guarantee him some hits or the upper hand. Knowledge of the fight and the flexibility to change as new intel came in, that was his plan.

Harrison focused back to the board as a count down timer appeared on all the screens starting at 10. A low whine emanated from the square below them that gradually grew in pitch and volume as the small barrier around their starting positions cast a caution wall not to move forward because of the arena constructing itself. Harrison always enjoyed this part, as mesmerizing as it was. Each square on a professional mech board was equipped with a state of the art hard light and matter projector. With it and a decent amount of fabrication material each square could construct a realistic arena based on the defender’s preference. Whether or not the arena was a desert or an ocean the square was able to recreate it. Water was wet and drinkable, concrete was rough and smashable. Most people if they were to be given a blind choice between their house and their house remade in the arena wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if it wasn’t enclosed in a stadium.

Harrison looked on in wonder as particles of all shapes and sizes fluttered out of vents in the border of the square, flurrying around the square as the hazard walls lost their transparency, blocking the pilots from potentially seeing the others moves, and keeping them blind. Sometimes this didn’t matter if the defender chose a barren field or a desert as their arena since line of sight would be guaranteed. But those fights were only reserved for the best of the best going toe to toe. Stealth meant nothing and the fight meant everything.

The timer began to tick down as the flurrying whine stopped. Each count resonated throughout the stadium rattling the Pilgrim and the squares. Though distant the crowd counted down along with the timer in eager anticipation. Harrison clenched his fists as he prepared himself. A five-minute timer appeared in his hud, holding stagnantly until the countdown timer ended. At five seconds the safety wall disappeared. The smell of pine and summer air infiltrated his cockpit. A vast forest spread out in front of him completely covering the surface of the flat square that had been there only moments before. Harrison quickly looked to his left and his right. The walls of the arena themselves had been converted into a cliff face, a pit right behind him no doubt also surrounding the entire square. A thick layer of mist covered the forest beneath the cliff as far as the eye could see. While he couldn’t go into it, the illusion of depth and the animation was so realistic that the fear of standing on a cliff was very much real. Just as real as the penalty for leaving the square.

At four seconds Harrison turned forward again, looking at the forest and the trees gently swaying in the breeze. These pines were tremendously tall nearly matching The Pilgrim’s own height. The foliage would make Adeline hard to see, an unexpected but manageable development. Maybe there were clearings further into the map he could utilize to bait her out. Maybe he should rush her starting position to startle her, but it wouldn’t be the best while attacking. Or maybe, just maybe, he should do nothing. Let her get into her own head, paranoid, then attack once she found him.

At three seconds Harrison questioned whether a mech like Adeline’s could fly. G Units were stocky, but they were heavy as all mess. Even with how much money professional pilots made jet fuel for mechs could become expensive fast, and a heavier older unit meant more fuel and more power needed for a move that may not even work. It would be unlikely that Adeline would fly up to survey her surroundings because of these reasons, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. At two seconds Harrison equipped his standard blade in his right hand and braced his knees. He activated his survey systems and lowered his center of gravity, putting his left arm out in front of him with the blade pointing down the Pilgrims forearm. The other arm was bent with the fingers splayed out ready to grab anything that was thrown out at him. A much more abrasive attack is once the match starts the fighters launching ballistics straight across the map to get a shot off on their opponent. Most pilots didn’t fall for this but if Harrison’s plan to stay on his square until confronted were to proceed he’d have to be open to the possibility.

At 1 Second Harrison thought about his mother. An unexpected thought at the beginning of his first fight. Not about the countless lessons or trips out to train. Not about a war story or her expectations. Not about honoring her legacy or about screwing up in front of her. Harrison just hoped she was watching. There was no doubt she was. It was her son’s first match, and she was an announcer. She was practically being paid to watch the fight. But he wanted to perform well, he wanted her to be proud. He was striving to step out of her shadow but a t the same time, he wanted her to see what he was capable of, for pride, and for success.

The timer rang out as the safety wall entirely disappeared and five-minute timer began ticking down. Harrison quickly fought with himself to move or to stay on his pedestal and quickly decided to stay. In the distance several trees snapped back and toppled spreading flocks of birds up into the sky. Adeline was on the move. Harrison listened to the forest as the crashing continued before hearing a light whirring sound to his right. Turning his head making sure not to break his stance he saw a micro drone staring back at him. “Damn.” He thought to himself as the orchestra of falling trees grew closer, and louder. Now accompanied by the sound of stomping metal feet in a rapid procession, growing louder as the seconds ticked by. Harrison braced himself further, tightening his grip on the knife as he looked around his hud trying to find the direction she was coming from. Then it stopped. The footsteps, the noise, the rustling of leaves. It all stopped.

Harrison wanted to turn to the drone to eliminate it, but it wouldn’t matter. She was staring at him from the tree line and giving her a window to attack by turning would be most ill advised. Harrison scanned the tree line quickly looking for any changes or sudden moves, a twig snapping, a branch crashing down, anything. Harrison stood motionless waiting, the timer reading four minutes and thirty seconds remaining in the match. Time was ticking, and a staring match was most unpleasant for the pilots and the audience alike. If Adeline didn’t engage eventually Harrison would be forced to.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adeline waited with exasperated breath in the tree line, staring at the Pilgrim on its pedestal from 40 yards or so. She knew Harrison knew she was here, there was no way he didn’t hear the noise she made charging through the forest knocking down trees and the like on her way in. She made sure to stop just short enough to make him question just where she was coming from, and the droid kept him paranoid so he couldn’t focus entirely on his opponent in front of him knowing his opponent is watching.

Adeline looked at the drones feed in her hud. The Pilgrim was in a defensive stance slowly scanning the tree line for any sign of her. Once, twice, three times, the Pilgrim had passed over her not noticing she was there. Adeline didn’t have forest camouflage in her uniform, but she did have flat grays and blacks. Rather mute colors compared to the Pilgrim’s blazing reds and oranges. The artificial sun shining through the canopy and the various rocks and boulders must be assisting her.

“Go Time.” Adeline thought to herself, slowly but surely reaching towards the ground with both arms, releasing several extension locks in her unit allowing for more flexibility. She sent the drone around Harrison in a flurry. In and out, back and forth, side to side. An intentional move to force his hand. To get him to destroy it. Adeline leaned into her position bending her right leg and resting on her left knee. She gritted her teeth, staring at the Pilgrim through her own lenses and the drones’. “Bite.” She thought to herself. “Give it to me, bite.” She thought to herself louder, the words hovering on her tongue. And in a flash, it happened.

The Pilgrim quickly turned to his right to dispatch the drone, grabbing it out of the air with his right hand and bringing his knife around to puncture it through its camera. The Pilgrim tried to turn back to front but it was too late, Adeline’s plan had worked. The second the blade hit the drone the drone exploded in Harrison’s hands knocking him back but spreading a cloud of thick black fog. During the explosion Adeline. Ignited several thrusters alongside her legs quickly launching herself in the air blowing leaves and branches in a whirlwind around and behind her tearing through the canopy. Hopefully the sound of the drone exploding covered the sound of her launch, or at least maybe the smoke blinded the Pilgrim long enough for her to go unnoticed.

Soring above the trees she finds her mark, frantically trying to disperse the smoke below, there’s no way he noticed. Cutting her thrusters Adeline quickly looked around trying to take in as much of her surroundings as possible to know the lay of the land before she reached the peak of her fall. Behind her was her path of destruction, bent trees and heavy footfalls left a line through the forest heading back to her own pedestal. It looked almost as if a giant eraser had descended from the sky taking out the trees in one fowl swoop. Below her like she had seen before were a series of boulders placed haphazardly through the trees, she could use these to her advantage if she could get behind the Pilgrim.

Reaching the peak of her launch Adeline focused back on her target who had stepped off his pedestal to clear away the smoke, he was frantically looking around him waiting for the attack from behind or the side. Adeline chuckled. “Guess again idiot”. She thought to herself as she started her fall. Her math was true, she’d land right where he was standing on the pedestal. She brought both of her legs up to her chest and raised both her hands in the air, fingers splayed out as she began to fall. Harrison was still none the wiser as she approached, landing in the smoke. Before the Pilgrim had the chance to turn around Adeline had launched herself into a backflip over the Pilgrim’s head, grabbing the mech by its shoulders then landing digging her feet into the ground. Utilizing her momentum, she launched the Pilgrim behind herself into the forest. The Pilgrim flew colliding with trees cutting through the like twigs until colliding with a boulder. The Pilgrim tried to stand but couldn’t find it’s feet before Adeline launched herself into the brush grappling the Pilgrim over its shoulder and underneath its arm smashing through the bolder.

Adeline carried the Pilgrim several dozen meters before landing in a clearing in the center of the square. The Pilgrim fought hard eventually breaking free from Adeline but not before she landed a punch into its right shoulder, throwing the Pilgrim off its balance. Adeline seized the opportunity following up with another punch to the other shoulder, breaking through the weak attempt to block. The Pilgrim staggered backwards to a small cliff face overlooking a pond. If she could get him down there, pin him. It’d be over. She continued the offense, blocking punches and jabs and returning the with full force. The Pilgrim trying to catch its footing couldn’t gain the strength or space to return even one of Adeline’s hits truly. Nearing the edge Adeline twisted her mech to the side blocking with her left and preparing the final punch with her right, bringing it around so quickly she didn’t even realize it connected.

The Pilgrim fluttered around the edge before losing balance, toppling into the fog below smashing into the pond below. Adeline wasted no time and jumped over the edge ready to bring the wrath of God down upon the Pilgrim whether it was justified or not. This was her moment; this was the start of everything she wanted and everything she hoped for. All secondary to the defeat of Harrison. She didn’t let him get a move in edgewise and she didn’t care, humiliation, defeat, she would always be the pilot who first defeated the legacy pilot Harrison and she reveled in it. An Achievement so close she could taste it. More than excited to finish what she started she braced for the landing.

But he wasn’t there. Adeline quickly stood from her knees, hoping to have landed across him to wale on him until time ran out to rack up heaps of extra points. But he was gone. Adeline frantically looked around getting back to her feet. Maybe she landed wrong, maybe she was just off her trajectory. She turned on her flood lights on, and to cover ground she swung her arms at their longest length in a circle around her, not disturbing the fog but kicking up a ton of water. The pond wasn’t the deepest, but it was deep enough to make resistance. Adeline’s confidence was shattered when she noticed it too late, a leg coming around from the left colliding with her head and chest launching her backwards into the waterfall. Water covered her cameras so she couldn’t see what was around her. Adeline pushed off the wall but was pushed back by another kick to the chest. The Pilgrim now stood over the waterfall, it’s floodlights on its head and chest illuminating her, creating a warped image through the waterfall that was equally unnerving and unexpected. Adeline tried to push off again before being punched back. She tried to bail to the left but was caught and pinned against the wall receiving a knee to the chest and a headbutt. Desperate, Adeline brought her arms up in an effort to grab his head, potentially making him back up so she could at least escape the water to regain vision. But much to her surprise, The Pilgrim batted away her attempt grabbing her wrist and pinning it to the wall, bringing around it’s standard issue dagger and stabbing it through her forearm into the rock behind her.

Adeline frantically reached for the knife as The Pilgrim brought up its fists to fight. Throwing punches and kicks in an effort to prevent Adeline from removing the blade. Every reach was deflected and replace with a hit to the chest or the head. Attempts to reach out to The Pilgrim were met with kicks and jabs. Not only was the situation bad, but Adeline was also being humiliated. Unable to move, to see, she could only resort to ballistics. Adeline reached for a red lever in her cockpit opening panels on her chest launching several close-range missiles at Harrison. Four missed, two hit, but to her dismay Harrison managed to catch the last two. She cursed herself for relying on a private owner for ammunition remembering the risk for duds amongst older ammunition. Harrison gripped the two missiles in one hand reaching for the knife and pulling it out. Adeline jumped at the opportunity to move but Harrison had turned off his floods, fading into the fog. Adeline stepped out from under the waterfall the water parting from her head, her camera feeds clearing up as she looked around for Harrison.

“Did he want me to have the first move?” Adeline thought to herself now questioning how easy it was for her to get the upper hand on Harrison at the beginning of the round. Adeline needed to get out of the fog, or she was at a severe disadvantage, especially not knowing where the Pilgrim had gone. But she did know there was no way it would just leave after having her in a hole like she was in. Harrison was still here. Adeline weighed her options, cautiously moving or sprinting ahead to where the fog dispersed from around the rocks. Adeline hesitated, looking at the match timer. A minute and a half remained in the match.

Ripping her from her focus an explosion went off outside through the fog. Adeline saw it’s light and rushed towards it. Maybe one of the dud missiles Harrison had taken had a delayed reaction and downed him temporarily. At least with enough time to get him down. Adeline emerged from the fog, its wispy tendrils unraveling around her limbs as she approached a small pile of burning wreckage. But before she could truly take a good look at it, she was alarmed by the rapid approach of splashing footsteps and a leap. Adeline turned behind her to see the Pilgrim jumping out of the fog. In the Pilgrims hands it had its’ knife pointed downwards hanging over it’s head. Adeline started to move in a defensive position to catch him before she noticed an odd shape flying towards her as well. The dud missile.

Adeline continued to move to defend as Harrison fell closer, expecting another stab, but instead was blown away by the explosion when Harrison punctured the dud missile as it landed on her arm. An array of red flashing lights went off in Adeline’s cockpit as her left arm went offline. The two stab wounds and the explosion had done a terrible number on the G Unit so much so that the system couldn’t even move it. It was now dead weight. Adeline frantically trying to think of a consistency plan was interrupted by the Pilgrim, having been launched back from the explosion rushing up to Adeline grabbing her head and smashing it into the shore behind her. Adeline grabbed his arm, but it did little to help as the Pilgrim continued to smash the G Unit into the ground, smashing it into the pond a couple times before entering the water itself. again. Harrison continued to wail on Adeline as she struggled to regain control coming short each time.

The Pilgrim ignited its thrusters smashing Adeline into the cliffside to the side of the waterfall then rapidly wailing on her to disorient her. The Pilgrim then tossed Adeline into the water keeping a solid grip on her busted arm and its foot on her back. Inside Adeline’s cockpit alarms blared in all directions as Harrison began to twist out her arm. Adeline tried to get to her feet, but Harrison kept the pressure on her back preventing her from moving to defend herself. Adeline’s panic fluctuated between anger and desperation at the thought of her loss, but the thought of her damaged mech rung a little deeper. The Pilgrim still twisted and bent her arm creating a symphony of twisting straining metal and a show of sparks and electricity.

Eventually, the arm broke off. Adeline hung defeated in her harness not even willing to glance at her timer knowing she lost the match. The Pilgrim with its foot still on Adeline’s back held up Adeline’s the arm with his right triumphantly as the round end siren wailed. The ambient sound of the square disappeared nearly immediately as the sounds of the stadium replaced them. The whine of the loudspeaker erupted through the overheads as the announcers chimed in. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE SENTINELS WIN D5! HARRISON ANDROSS WINS D5 IN THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SEASON.” The audience erupted into a roar as the Pilgrim dropped the arm next to Adeline. Adeline getting to her feet picked up the arm and leered at the Pilgrim, the emergency sirens still going off in her G Unit. She turned in the direction of her platform as the square started to erase the arena to prepare for the next move.