“If it is here, we’ll find it and make it our bitch,” Kaiden vowed. “But if we don’t…hey, you still got me and all the goodness I’ll bring to this party.”
“Try to keep yourself in check,” Chiyo said, but a small smile crept onto her lips as her helmet materialized. “After all, you wouldn’t want to make your fellow initiates feel too dejected, right?”
“Nice to see you coming around.” He nodded. “This will be a metaphorical and literal blast.”
“I can certainly help with that.” Genos pointed to the cannon on his back.
“You certainly can, buddy.” the soldier chuckled.
“One minute remaining. Doors will now open. If you have not left by the time the timer has reached zero, you and your team will be ported randomly around the map,” the EI warned.
The doors in the lobby opened. Initiates rushed to them and stood looking for their perfect mark to jump. Kaiden walked up and pulled out his rifle. He held it in one hand as he placed the other on his chest, saluting the other students.
“All right, y’all. Let’s go kill something!” he called as he jumped out of the carrier and descended to the island, yelling “Yahooooo,” as he fell.
Chapter Eighteen
Kaiden fell through the sky, grinning madly. The island was coming up fast, and he began to drift over to a patch of jungle, flipping himself vertically
“Couldn’t have waited for your teammates?” Chief chided, popping up in front of him.
“They were right behind me,” he said, looking above him to where dozens of other initiates plummeted through the sky. “They should be able to track me, right?”
“Yeah, they have you on network, but you could have waited. Appreciate the pep in your step and all, but remember this is the Deathmatch. This jungle may not have as many obstacles as the building will, but there are still plenty of hostiles to worry about.”
“Point piñatas,” Kaiden corrected.
“Don’t start that bullshit again.” Chief groaned.
He laughed. Only about half a mile until landfall. “We’ll be fine. I’ll wait for them. I’m not dropping into a camp or anything. What’s the worst that could happen?” Kaiden relaxed his legs as he prepared to land.
“Remember the beginning of the Division Test? You stepped on a mine. Not sure if that’s the worst, but you don’t have extra lives this time around.”
“Oh, right. Well, let’s pray there are no surprises waiting for us.” He looked down again to see he was about to break through the tree line. “And that we don’t end up stuck in a tree like Cameron.”
Kaiden braced himself and closed his eyes, awaiting impact as he fell through the tops of the trees. He landed on the ground safely, though slightly awkwardly and heavily, and something cracked beneath him. He stood up cautiously. Had he landed on a hill or some fallen branches?
He heard groaning beneath him and looked down to see a man in dark-green armor beneath him, thoroughly implanted into the dirt.
“Might wanna thank him for breaking the fall,” Chief mused as he studied the collapsed body below them.
His score went up two points—Valor for a merc kill. For the poor bastard beneath him, he realized. He then saw red dots appear on the chest of his armor—three other mercs were pointing rifles at him. The ace reached slowly for Debonair. “You think this counts as a good beginning or a bad one?” he asked the EI.
“Depends on you.”
Sasha and Mya walked into the board members’ personal lounge at the Observation Center. Within the circular room was a large screen that displayed the test from an isometric camera field. Laurie and Wulfson were already there, the professor sipping a glass of red wine on a lounge chair while the security officer leaned back on the couch, nearly taking up all three seats with his large frame. Mya walked in and opened her mouth to greet them, but she stalled upon seeing Raza. The Sauren leaned casually against the wall looking at the giant screen before him. Sasha laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder and nodded. “He’s with Wulfson, a friend and delegate to the Academy. Don’t worry.”
She nodded and rubbed her arms in an effort to settle her goosebumps. “Sorry. I had heard that we had a Sauren visitor, but I had yet to meet him. Keeps a surprisingly low profile considering his…size.”
“Heh. Takes more than brute strength to be a good enough hunter to make Warchief in the Sauren’s ranks.” Wulfson smiled at both the commander and the counselor. “Glad you finally made it, Commander. And look, you brought a friend.” Wulfson ran his fingers through his beard. “Don’t think we’ve formally met Kära. I’m Biaoh Wulfson, Head of Security at this fine Academy.” He stood up and walked over, a large, opened bottle of vodka clenched in his left hand.
Mya offered a hand. “I’m Counselor Mya, a friend of Commander Sasha’s and Professor Laurie’s. He invited me to watch the test with him. We are both participating in the League this year.”
He took her hand, nearly obscuring it within his bear-sized mitts. “Mya, is it? Good on ya. Heard you were the winner last year. Looking to see if you’ll take Sasha’s place for longest run?”
“I’ll need a few more wins to accomplish that,” she admitted. “Plus, he has quite the team this year.”
“Well, come on in and make yourself comfortable.” Wulfson turned to look at the Sauren. “Raza, introduce yourself to the lass.”
Raza slowly examined Mya with his reptilian eyes then huffed and bowed his head slightly. “Greetings, Counselor,” he muttered before looking back at the screen. “You should be watching the match, Wulfson. Your trainee is in combat.”
“Aye? Which one?” the security officer asked. He released Mya’s hand and took a swig from his bottle as he returned to the couch. Sasha pointed at a chair across from Laurie, offering Mya a seat as he walked over to the bar.
“Why, the only one we would all have an interest in,” Laurie hinted. “Our dear boy Kaiden. Did you know Miss Vodello here is his counselor?”
“That right?” Wulfson asked, leaning his head to the side to watch Sasha as he poured a drink. “You should have gotten here sooner, Sasha. Kaiden jumped right out of that carrier when it first popped. Seems he got over his fear of heights when I took him to Alaska.”
“The fact that the test is in the Animus and he’s wearing armor with absorption probably helps with the nerves.” Sasha deadpanned. “Good to see you all made yourselves comfortable. I apologize for being late, although I shouldn’t wonder how you all got in.”
“I simply can’t surprise you like I used to,” Laurie said lightly and took another sip from his glass. “You should try this, Mya. Le Sang de Bordeaux, aged for twenty-five years. Simply magnifique.”
“That sounds wonderful, Laurie,” Mya agreed. “Sasha, if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Certainly, Counselor.” The commander finished pouring his scotch and brought her a wine glass. The professor leaned over and poured from the bottle he lifted from the table.
“How is he faring so far?” Sasha asked, sitting on the far end of the couch. Wulfson sat up straighter to give him more room.
“Depends on your view, really.” Laurie placed the wine bottle back on the table after topping up his own glass.
“Kaiden crushed an enemy upon his descent. He was immediately accosted by the other enemies who were traveling with that one. He has taken them down,” Raza informed him. “Quick fire to the helmets. He was lucky they had no shields.”
“Where are his partners?” Sasha inquired, looking at the screen to see Kaiden searching through the corpses’ belongings.
“Like I said, he leaped out of the carrier right away. His squadmates followed but had to wait for a little as all the other initiates rushed out,” Wulfson explained.
“That certainly seems to be his way of doing things. I had hoped he would have shown a bit more patience, considering the circumstances.” Sasha sighed.
The security officer chuckled. “Can’t blame him for having a fire in his belly. But you
are right. In this test and in any military unit, you don’t run off from your team without explicit orders or a plan. Like Raza said, he was lucky those mercs didn’t have any shields.”
“To be fair, he was also unlucky that he immediately fell into a patrol, considering the size of the island,” Mya pointed out reasonably.
“In combat, you have to factor in many possibilities,” Sasha said, looking at a tablet on the table that showed a map of the island. “He landed close to the building. With the time he had to think this out before the match started, he should have prepared to meet more resistance that close in.”
“Eh, you’re too hard on the boy,” Wulfson said in Kaiden’s defense, and the commander looked questioningly at him. “It’s true you should always have a plan, and I will drill team coordination into his head the next time I see him, but he’s got the skills and prowess to deal with a few mercs. Had it since the beginning of the year.”
“So I shouldn’t be worried that he seems to have learned nothing?” Sasha questioned.
The large man smiled. “Take it from someone who’s had to try to pry open that skull all year. It’s not night and day, by any means, but Kaiden has learned to play nice. Even from a purely physical and discipline standpoint, I would say that being able to land and take out a few mercs in quick succession like that, with no hesitation and all reflex and training, shows that he’s advanced quite a bit.”
“Plus, he hasn’t run off. He does seem to be waiting for his team,” Mya remarked, pointing at the screen. “Look. Chiyo just landed.”
Kaiden heard a loud thump behind him, followed by another, along with the cracking of a branch. He turned from his scavenging to see his teammates about forty yards behind him. “Howdy! Got some points for us already.” He grinned.
“I see your gift for violence remains intact,” Genos noted.
“Is that a compliment or simply an observation?” he asked.
Chiyo walked over, taking out her weapon. “We should go ahead and make our way to the objective. Genos and I were almost the last ones out, so I would say every other team has landed at this point.”
“You’re not gonna chew him out for his little stunt back there?” Chief inquired.
Kaiden shook his head, “Despite the snitching, I am kinda surprised myself.”
She walked past him. “No need. You lead by example. It wasn’t surprising. You already gathered points and cleared the way, at least for now.” She looked back and nodded. “Well done.”
“Oh, good, she’s become an enabler,” Chief muttered and disappeared from view.
“She’s good at planning ahead,” Kaiden retorted, drawing his Raptor. “You coming, Genos?”
The Tsuna primed his cannon for combat. “Following your lead.”
“Let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into, then!”
Explosions blew the ground apart as mechs and tanks battled. Trees crashed down, torn by the blasts. A mech took a shot from a tank cannon and flew back as two mercs dove out of the way. It rolled a few yards like a mechanical boulder and crushed a few droids that were shooting at incoming initiates along the battle line.
Kaiden observed the carnage from behind a tree, his eyes widening as another blast from a tank scattered a group of at least eight mercs, blowing half of them apart.
“That’s a shitload of trouble,” he muttered. Across the field, a little over a third of a mile away, was the base. He could see six potential entrances, but they had to make it across the field first.
Even for him, that seemed a grim prospect.
Chiyo activated her holoscreen. “Kaitō, scan the area, and make it as wide as you can.”
“Immediately, madame,” the EI confirmed. After a moment, a rudimentary map of the area appeared onscreen. Kaiden and Genos walked over and looked at it over her shoulder.
“It’s basically a no man’s land. There will be a heavy risk if we simply charge through it,” she observed.
“I see plenty of men, just in parts,” the ace joked somberly.
“It’s like this for this side of the building,” she confirmed.
Kaiden grimaced and sighed as he quickly took aim and shot at a droid running across the field in the distance. “Makes for an easy shooting gallery, at least.”
Chiyo continued to observe the battles. “Considering the various fights going on, there are a good number of jockeys and mechanists in at least some of those mechs and tanks.” At a loud rush of air above them, the trio looked up to see several ships blasting one another.
The soldier quickly grabbed the back of his partners’ armor and dove to the ground as a ship swooped toward the field, firing blasts at some of the running mercs and launching a plasma bolt at a tank. The vehicle erupted on impact and the cannon blew apart and flew through the air, landing only a few yards from them.
“Pilots as well,” Genos added, standing once more after the ship lifted into the air to rejoin the dogfight. He helped his teammates up, then Kaiden dusted himself off and picked up his Raptor.
“Think we can make it through somehow?” he asked the infiltrator.
“I was thinking that we should double back and go around to the other side or check to see if we could find an underground passage.”
“We could probably do that, but it would burn time, not to mention that any potential points from mercs and droids would be scanty if we stay close to the buildings.” Another blast erupted fifteen meters to their left and a merc flew through the air, landing a few feet in front of them. He moved for a few seconds before lying still and disappeared after a moment.
“It would seem that any potential nearby targets would already be involved in this battle, albeit very temporarily,” Genos stated.
“I don’t think we want to wait this out. We do get points for time alive, but those are inconsequential.” Chiyo frowned.
“Can’t you hack into a few droids around here? Create a distraction for us to sprint to the building?” Kaiden asked.
She opened her holoscreen again. “It wouldn’t be very effective. We would need a good amount and the ones that I could get into easily wouldn’t last very long. Maybe not even long enough for me to gain access to them. The stronger droids are either locked out from long-range hacking options or have systems too advanced for me to gain control quickly enough for them to be of much use.”
The Tsuna looked out into the valley, a single finger tapping the neck of his armor where his infuser would normally be. “I think I know a way to get us an opening.”
The two looked at him in surprise. “We’re all ears, man,” the ace said.
Genos handed his cannon to his teammate, then reached behind him and brought out his hoverboard. “Please hold this.”
Kaiden took the cannon and held it against his shoulder. “Not a problem, but what are you…”
“Please keep your comms open. I’ll tell you when to go,” the mechanist said cryptically. He activated his board and hopped on. “Although you should have no problem noticing.” With that, he sped off into the field.
“Whoa! Genos, wait!” Kaiden yelled. He could only watch helplessly as his teammate charged into the battle.
As Kaiden observed the mechanist speeding through the fighting, explosions going off around him as he weaved through laser and plasma fire and ignored his calls to retreat, he sighed. “So that’s what it feels like.”
Chapter Nineteen
Genos whipped around the field, looking for his targets. He needed to get to the middle of the battle and cause an obvious distraction. It had to be something to get the attention of the rest of the enemies in the field focused on a primary target for long enough that his teammates could make it across.
It was ironic. In an open field like this, even among the explosions and fighting, he had acquired enough skill to dodge the blasts and speed through. He could easily make it to the other side, but his teammates couldn’t, and it wasn’t like he could carry them across one at a time. Either of them would wei
gh the board down too much.
He considered looking into modifications to increase the board’s weight capacity once this was all over.
Genos looked eastward and saw his prey—a trio of mechs coming out of an underground bay. They were booting up, vulnerable enough for him to do what he needed to do.
He activated his gauntlet, shifting the hand into a clamp as he raced toward them. On the way, he snatched a droid up. It was a basic fighter droid with a skinny frame, lightly armored, with a basic laser rifle. The head spun around as if it couldn’t comprehend the situation as he smashed its chest apart in his grip. He kept the head and swerved around the mechs to get behind them as they began to stand and arm their systems.
The Tsuna jumped off his board and onto the back of the mech in the middle. He climbed on top, quickly tearing into the outer metal to reveal a panel within. He glanced quickly to each side and saw that there were jockeys in each mech, but he couldn’t make out their colors through the darkened windows. From their frantic movements, he gathered that they could certainly see him. He had to work fast.
Genos opened the exposed panel and then a small port on the head of the robot that he had taken. He deactivated his gauntlet and straightened his index finger, releasing a small set of prongs. Carefully, he reached into the panel of the mech and snagged a small cord. Holding it in his hand, he placed the robot’s head onto the mech and slid the end of the cord into a slot in the port of the metal skull.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the other mechs on either side begin to turn toward him. The whirr of mechanics working in tandem sounded and the claw of the mech on his left began to fidget. He was cutting it close.
“Genos, what the hell are you doing?” Kaiden demanded over the comm.
Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance Page 78
