Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 21

The screen went dark momentarily. We all thought it was over.

Mr. Rachet muttered, “Are they going to let battalions use artillery or something? The Manticores aren’t far from the bases… How many of the battalions won’t pass the first stage?”

It was Kline that said it. “The vast majority.”

When Mia was about to say something, the black screen was suddenly covered with additional information.

Bonus Objectives

A bonus point will be rewarded for the following.

Ø  The Battalion that kills the most Officers of opposing Battalions.

Ø  The Battalion that has the most overall kills.

Ø  Any Battalion that kills someone ranked as a Top Ten Participant in all of Vanguard.

Ø  And finally, the Battalion that kills the most Manticore Kings.

Note: Bonus points will only be rewarded to Battalions that complete the primary Second State objective. Bonus objectives can be completed before a flag is captured but will only be counted after this primary objective is complete.

When the screen went black again, Oren confirmed from the other room, “That’s the end of the footage.”

Any of the over-the-top expressions Mia was known for weren’t there. The way she looked at me. Her lip trembled. Then I heard her ask, “Do we have the top ten list they’ll be using?”

“It was also released today but is subject to change. It seems it depends if certain people break into rank D before the event or not. Let me throw it up.”

Master Sergeant Ebrima Okoro was now in first place followed by Master Sergeant Brendon Black. The Real Major Jeff Wright had dropped to fifth place while at the bottom of the list was my name, Major Lucius Edwards.

“They’re making you a target,” Mia protested. “It’s not fair.”

Kline took that time to batter my shoulder with a palm. We shared smirks.

Mr. Rachet took that opportunity to spin his chair around and plop down next to Mia. “Normally, I would agree with you,” he started, leaning against the table and lacing his fingers in front of himself. “But I won’t make that mistake again.”

Mia gave him a challenging glare.

He winked at us. “What I mean is that I’ve rejected Lucius being ranked in the top ten since the beginning of Vanguard. I wouldn’t be here sitting in the corner if I hadn’t. I won’t make that mistake again. Yes, this makes him a target, but even if many of the Genesis participants will unlock rank D psionics before the event and are much faster now, that doesn’t mean they can catch him.

“What I want to know is Lucius and Kline’s take on the point system. Besides the primary objective of capturing a flag, it seems like there are several strategies a battalion could take. Many of which are viable.”

“You’re right,” Kline began. “There looks to be many viable strategies, but everyone has a plan until they get headbutted in the face.”

I admit to letting my friend do most of the talking for the rest of the interview. I wasn’t rude and did what was expected of me. This event in the way it was designed would put us at a disadvantage, but the scale of it was such that there would be some room for us to maneuver.

When we were wrapping up, Kline and I thanked them.

Mia chose that moment to scurry over and hug me around the waist. Her eyes were wet as she looked up at me.

I shifted just enough to turn it into a side hug as I squeezed her back.

With a huff, she pulled back. “Sorry,” she mouthed before saying aloud, “I’ll be rooting for you guys, like always.”

I gave her an appreciative nod. We stayed and talked for a while, but it wasn’t long. Once in the car, Kline gave me the look. I hadn’t hidden that Mia had feelings for me, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t mess with me about it every chance he got.

Victoria was insisting through my headset moments later. It was doubtful our conversation would be intercepted, but she wanted us to try to keep any talk of strategy to ourselves until we were securely back at base.

“What do you think?” I asked generally.

“I think in trying to shut the door on us the left too many back doors open,” he replied. “We just have to play it smart.”

I nodded as I turned to watch the city speed by.

***

As soon as we returned to the base, Victoria summoned us to the command room. A full-size hologram of Destiny was standing at the head of the room with Victoria, Peter, and Oliver. The entire intelligence team was there, including Junction and Liam. One person I hadn’t expected to see was Drool, though I knew they’d gotten close in Freedom.

We took a seat in the back and listened as they finished up. A lot of ideas were thrown around. There was one missing, but I saved it until it was over, and everyone was returning to their stations.

Soon we joined them at the head of the room next to Victoria’s cool recliner with one of the highest-end, wall-connect headsets money could buy built into it. Combat General gear at its finest.

Peter’s microdrones did their thing.

Victoria’s grin didn’t reach her eyes. “That was some reveal. I know you guys already have some things in mind. Let’s hear them.”

Placing my hand on Kline’s shoulder, I stopped him. He chuckled. “Had a feeling you had something you were working on. You were too quiet. Even for you.”

Giving him a grateful squint when he stepped back and motioned my forward, I answered, “I’m going to need someone to replace me on the rank D hunter squad. There are several guys that come to mind with the casting ability that could take my place.”

She began to object when I countered. “Mel will be reaching rank D soon. Once he does, I suspect only the most defensively talented rank D users will be able to tank one of his overcharged bolts at point-blank-range even with a fully engaged pshield. He’ll be more than enough.”

“Don’t forget,” Victoria countered. “We’ll need you to retrieve our first flag.”

“I don’t think so. Have a talk with Harrison. He has something he’s working on that will give our faster rank E guys like Barrell more than enough time they need to retrieve some flag. But if you really need me, I’ll be there.”

“What do you have in mind?” Peter asked.

“I’m going manticore hunting.”

Victoria cleared the distance between us and gave me her best, you-better-listen-mister stare. “Even if you can now defeat a manticore king, they won’t be alone. Let’s assume you’ll only be attacking manticores of battalions that can’t kill their own, they will most likely still try to fight it. You’ll be in their crosshairs.”

“Can they used heavy weaponry from the base?”

She shook her head. “No. The rules change a little after a battalion captures a flag when they might have to defend their base, but they have to use manpower to defeat their manticore.”

My eyes flickered in Destiny’s direction. “You’re up.”

The AI cleared her holographic throat before she began. “The early release of the information for this event presents many possibilities. For one, I’ve already completed creating a one-to-one scale model of the coliseum and surrounding area in its entirety. We will be able to train individually and as a battalion in the event grounds.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Kline muttered.

“Indeed,” Peter added.

Adding emphasis to make sure she still had our attention, Destiny continued, “What Lucius is suggesting has its merits, but there’s more to it than just the opportunity for us to gain an extra point.”

With her hand stretched out palm up, an image from the event trainer appeared there. Only this was a 3D representation. Each battalion had their own tunnel with skyscraper-size walls as their entrance to the event. It was about a mile to the next layer of the giant sphere that was the event grounds.

“Think of the layout as layers of an onion. Once complete the first stage, we’ll reach an area where the walls go from standing half a mile tall to only a couple of stories.”

The model of the event map spun in her hand. It was there that the skyscrapers met the still substantial, but shorter walls.

“There are two observations I want to point out. The first is that many of the battalion entrances come together at a single point.”

Her point was made clear from the angle of the diagram. Looking down at the transition from the massive walls to the shorter ones, it looked like a spider’s legs of shorter tunnels that came to a head at its body not far from the entrance to the second layer.

 “The second observation is that the banners with the name of each tunnel leading to each battalion’s base will make it easy for any battalion looking to steal flags from their competition to find them. But that’s not all. If Lucius can reach the neighbors of our biggest competitors fast enough and defeat their Manticore King, then it will free up the weaker battalions to try and capture a flag.”

Blinking arrows appeared on the diagram. It showed them colliding in the second layer where the tunnels came together.

Destiny paused long enough for her point to become clear to us all. “Not only will Lucius be able to earn us an extra point if he can kill enough manticores, but he can slow down our biggest competitors if he’s fast enough, forcing them to fight before they ever reach the center of the coliseum.”

Everyone was quiet for a time. Victoria was the first to break the silence. “I’m not going to ask you if you think you can defeat them fast enough. I’m sure you and Destiny will work something out. But Lucius, if you die, not only will another battalion get a point, it will put more pressure on the rest of Prodos. Especially if its early, our chances of victory will be substantially lower.”

“If not impossible,” Peter added.

Kline chose that moment to grab me by the shoulder and squeeze. “No pressure,” he jested.

As we finished up, Liam spoke from where he’d been standing behind me. “Victoria, Lucius, might I request a moment of your time?”

Kline had also made some suggestions, but they were more in line with how to use the narrower tunnels to their advantage. When Liam spoke up, he took that as being dismissed.

It was the three of us plus Peter and Oliver in the background. Liam didn’t beat around the bush and said, “It’s time.”

Victoria and I shared a look. Her glare had a playful aspect to it now, but I knew what he was asking of us wouldn’t be pretty when it went down. And so, we prepared.