Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 1

“This is their idea of fair?” Bolt protested. The lightning bolt painted across his face scrunched up with his brow.

“It’s perfectly fair,” Mr. Rachet replied as professionally as ever. Instead of his normal businessman’s attire, he wore a baggy white tunic below a padded vest. He was going for a Renaissance nobleman’s look and nailed it. Considering their bet, he was mocking the chance he had Bolt would lose.

LeLisa had issued the challenge. “For the finale, I bet a Freedom participant will end up in first place in the one-on-one competition. The loser must come on the winners meta-cast dressed as a peasant, bow down, and kiss their feet.”

This was only Vanguard’s second major event. Six months had passed since the Freedom and Genesis participants had started competing. There were also many newcomers making a name for themselves.

“They will be fighting in tunnels identical in length and complexity,” Rachet continued. “There will be the same number of enemies, and all battalions will face an equal number of rank E and F psionic users with a wider variety of abilities unlocked. The competing battalions aren’t equally capable. That doesn’t make it unfair.”

Mia’s producer Oren threw up the scoreboard. It would appear differently to those watching from the meta, but it was plastered on the wall panel on the other side of the room.

“Recap!” Mia shouted giving a side camera a playful squint. She wasn’t feeling it after the event reveal, but she had a job to do.

“Lethal Accord is in first place led by the Real Major Jeff Wright. They placed second in the opening siege event and took first in the assault on the Ekseliksi military compound.

“The Forefathers are in second. Sergeant First Class Brendon Black, ranked third on the Genesis list, led them to third in the opening event and second in the assault.

“Staff Sergeant Ebrima Okoro, second on the Genesis list, pulled his battalion into the third position by being the second person to kill the Manticore King in the first quarterly event. His battalion, The Burden Bearers, had only been in tenth place after the opening event.

“Prodos is in fourth place after receiving a questionable seventh place ranking in the first quarterly event. Because of their first-place finish in the opening event, they’ve retained their high standing…

The others let her finish listing the top ten before the arguments began. Instead of giving them details early, the Vanguard Devs had left things ambiguous, promising the fairest event yet as well as higher difficulty due to more rank E psionic opponents. There wouldn’t be a Centurion in the same way there had been in the first quarterly event because of the bad publicity. The problem with using real Ekseliksi prisoners as combatants was that they weren’t all created equal.

As for the fight with the Manticore King, a genuine boss fight, it had added so much weight to their final score that the Devs promised any future opponents of extreme difficulty wouldn’t be tallied. Instead, they’d make boss fights separate events where battalions and participants could earn bonus SP, or Simulation Points. They’d only be considered at the end of Vanguard if they needed a tiebreaker.

LeLisa squeezed Mia’s hand under the table. The blond woman was still doing her ditzy routine, but today she wore a Victorian blue dress and round spectacles like some steampunk princess.

The four of them collabed live during the first quarterly event and it had gone incredibly well. The clash of personalities and audiences made theirs the number one game-cast in the world for the event. It would’ve been crazy for them not to continue doing these events together and so they would.

Mia had also changed up her look, but she’d dared to give herself a more mature makeover for the first time since her career had taken off. Her natural dark hair had grown enough that she only had her tips colored pink. It was medium length with wispy layers. Instead of a cutesy outfit, she also wore a steampunk inspired Victorian gown. She and LeLisa were very careful to limit how much skin they were showing, but Mia was actually letting her figure show.

She was no longer the petite teen with boundless energy. She’d interviewed Lucius twice since their first meeting. He was improving each time he was in front of the meta. Things had gone nowhere between the two of them, but he’d made her realize she needed to put herself out there more and so she was.

As the others argued, she gave Oren her producer a look and he pulled up the live feeds. Once again, all battalions would be limited to a thousand men. Colonel Edmond was standing before the sea of men standing in tight formation from Lethal Accord giving a speech. Colonel Alexander Ruiz was doing the same for the Forefathers.

She skipped over to find Colonel Golshan was concluding her address to Prodos. They had looser ranks. Victoria had her dark hair back in a tight braid to accommodate her Combat General gear she’d be putting on as soon as the event began. Her light brown complexion and silver eyes gave her a beautiful yet piercing look.

When the woman finished, she turned to Lucius. “Can I count on you to stay with your men and not do anything rash today, Major?”

He looked at her impassively. “Unless it’s the only way we can win, I have every intention of staying put, Colonel.”

She returned his expressionless gaze.

“You can cut the tension with a Lethality Psword,” Mr. Rachet declared, bringing Mia’s attention back to the room of game-casters.

“They’re still fighting,” LeLisa muttered with a sigh.

“The real question is whether it will affect their battalion’s performance,” Bolt urged.

“This isn’t like the last event,” LeLisa retorted, straightening her glasses. “Prodos only had a handful of rank E psionic users then. Now half their battalion has unlocked rank E.”

“You’re not wrong, but Brendon Black of the Forefathers is the first in Vanguard to unlock rank D psionics. And a relatively unknown player from The Burden Bearers is the second. It gives them a large advantage.”

Mia watched as Victoria walked away first. The Colonel had not taken Lucius’s fight against the Manticore King well. She’d had him on a short leash ever since.

“It’s starting,” Oren announced.

The feed from the Vanguard Devs started to play. Hundreds of columns appeared as the camera pulled back to reveal what looked like the largest track every conceived. It was like a thousand lane highway with every lane being a several mile long tunnels filled with simulated Ekseliksi armies. The actual shape of the tunnels would only be revealed after the event was underway and the feed to the battalions was cut. This was a mock representation for the media. Its scope was more epic than the Ekseliksi castle had been.

As soon as the point of view was completely zoomed out, it flew back to get a look at the starting line. Only then did it cut to a large cylindrical staging area where the first battalion began to port in.

It wasn’t surprising that the Real Major with Legal Accord appeared first followed by those with the highest ranks. The ranks were determined by past performance. Every soldier in a battalion was ranked. This was separate from the Genesis and Freedom ranking, which tried to sort the participants of each group by combat rating.

There was a ranking system for everything. The Fantasy Sports networks were making a killing by allowing people to put together their own virtual squads, platoons, companies, and battalions. Of course, they were sanctioned, so the government was getting their cut.

The Forefathers ported in next followed by the Burden Bearers. When Lucius arrived first for Prodos, Mr. Rachet did his thing and stirred the pot. “What are Prodos’s chances of winning Vanguard if they don’t win this event?”

“If they get second, it’s still possible,” Bolt replied. He’d warmed up to the battalion even if he still favorited Lethal Accord.

“Possible, but unlikely. Even if the Real Major isn’t able to pull off a victory because the Forefathers and Burden Bearers each have a rank D psionic specialist, they are still the most likely to take third.”

Mia had been silent long enough. “You so quickly forget Lucius’s movement ability. You guys did read the rules, right? It doesn’t say who defeats ever opponent the quickest, but whoever reaches the finish line that will win the event.”

“Lucius did say he was going to stick with his men,” Mr. Rachet challenged. “Unless you think he’s going to go rogue, face hundreds of simulated Ekseliksi alone in tight quarters, and try to make it there on his own.”

“He’s going to do what he said he’s going to do,” she rebutted. “If he sees an opportunity for victory, he’s going to take it.”

“Up for another wager?”

When she didn’t respond right away, Mia chided herself. She believed he was capable, but the strife between him and Victoria was concerning. “Of course, I’ll take your bet. What are the stakes.”

“If Lucius, the Fake Major, doesn’t come in the top three, you go on a date with me. If he does, you choose.”

She cried as only she could and let the entire meta see it. Scanning the empty space before them as if a crowd of her fans were right there with them, she put her hand up to block him from seeing a wide-eyed grimace she made.

She replied smugly, “If you want to go that far, then if you lose, I get to pick your outfit for the next collab.”

“The deal is struck,” he announced, give her a sidelong wink.

Staring directly at the forwardmost facing camera, she pleaded, “Lucius, you must win. If not… Save me.”