For the first time since she joined Zavaso, Xiao felt actual nervousness as a pilot. In two versus two or three versus three formats, she could at least rely on her allies to some extent. In the one versus one format, she had no one to blame except for herself if the match went poorly. As her mech made its way to the start position in the arena, the young woman rehearsed her strategy twice in her head.

  Here goes nothing!

  The ant mech charged at the hornet but her opponent chose to move laterally while facing her. Just as Xiao got into a sprint, she noticed missiles coming her direction. After her repeated practice, the young woman had better control over her jump jets when it came to lateral movement. She waited until the missiles were several meters away before she adjusted her mech’s movement, dodging all five missiles. She readied herself for more missiles but none came. Instead, her opponent decided to close the gap between the two mechs by charging at her.

  Should have done that from the start.

  Xiao urged her mech closer towards her foe with some zigzagging, knowing that her opponent could be packing the SRM missiles as Zander. She didn’t want to lose to headshot again. As the two mechs got within a couple of meters, Xiao tried to outmaneuver her opponent. However, her opponent stuck with her mech as the two mechs faced one another regardless of what maneuvers she took. As soon as she was within range, the young woman fired off a burst of light machine gun and a single laser shot to gauge the dodging of her opponent. The hornet not only didn’t dodge but it got even closer before unleashing two missiles that rocked the ant mech.

  Of course she has short range missiles. I better avoid letting her hit the same location.

  After suffering from the headshot, Xiao read up more on the SRM missiles and learned that these missiles were more dangerous than she thought. MRMs and LRMs both boasted more range due to them being medium ranged missiles and long ranged missiles. Therefore, the missiles were built to travel longer distances and possess more accuracy, requiring more fuel and other components. SRM, or short range missiles, didn’t need to travel long distances or be accurate. As a result, the missile composition could focus more on damage so, in close range, they could deliver quite the payload on the enemy mech. For Xiao, this was bad news if the same location got hit repeatedly. She was just hit by two missiles which removed 7 armor and 6 armor from her left torso and right arm respectively.

  If you like fighting close range, take this!

  Xiao unleashed her single light machine burst as she blasted the hornet while she tossed in a few laser shots here and there with an eye on her heat bar. The whole time, she maintained a zigzag which, while not enough to aid her in avoiding the SRMs, did help spread the damage out. Eventually, her light machine gun ammo ran out so she backed away to create some distance. Her frontal armor for all the components had taken multiple hits from SRMs and light lasers. If she continued fighting in close range, it was a matter of time before the structure of her components were destroyed, resulting in her losing a component or two. Yet, her opponent wasn’t going to give her some breathing room. As the hornet mech got in very close, Xiao smiled.

  That’s exactly what I wanted. Take this!

  The young woman considered herself lucky given that her opponent was reliant on SRMs and light lasers. If her opponent had used light machine guns instead of light lasers, her odds of winning would be very low due to the critical hits already ending the match. While the hornet mech charged at her, Xiao stopped her ant’s backwards movement and charged in return, seeing the two mechs collide. Upon collision, Xiao unleashed her flamer which not only couldn’t miss due to the close proximity but she was also using the weapon at its optimal range which was point blank. Xiao could see the hornet mech trying to get its weapons aimed at her but, a couple of seconds later, the hornet stopped moving.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Good thing the hornet was already close to overheating. Now, time to end this!

  While the hornet was immobile, Xiao studied the opposing mech for where most of her light machine gun landed. She then focused the laser on the right torso until it blew off. As she was about to use the flamer to keep the foe immobile, Vesna informed her over the headset that her opponent had forfeited the match.

  “Yes! I did it!”

  Xiao had to then apologize to Vesna for shouting into her mic. She knew how close she was to losing it all. If her opponent had a few more seconds to unleash the light lasers at her ant's battered structure, then she might be the one to lose. Her advantage was the hornet’s relatively high usage of the lasers, making the hornet unable to fire off too many light lasers in a short period of time. Her flamer was ideal in this situation and secured her a victory that many probably thought was out of reach for her. As her ant mech returned to the mechbay and she exited it, the others there quickly cheered for her and tossed her in the air three times. As everyone left for the party afterwards, Xiao walked up to Lei.

  “Thanks for the chat! It really helped me better prepare for this.”

  “The credit is all yours! I didn’t expect you to win either. If I had money to be, I would bet against you!”

  Acting as if she was throwing a fit, Xiao chased her friend out of the mechbay. The two of them were laughing too hard so they nearly collided with a young woman in the hallways. The two of them quickly apologized. The woman looked at Xiao and asked if the two of them could talk privately.

  “What do you wish to talk about?” asked Xiao once the two of them were outside a small empty cafe within the arena.

  “I’ll get straight to the point! My name is Puhi and I am impressed by your skills. I wish to form a squad with you so we can both move up in the standings until we can participate in relegation matches.”

  The offer was very enticing but Xiao stopped herself from agreeing due to an advice from her father. He had told her that, regarding important decisions, she should never accept on the spot. One should always return to it when one was calm and could think the matter through.

  “I would like time to think about it! Maybe you can leave your contact info with me and we can discuss this on a different date.”

  “No need,” said Puhi as she prepared to turn around. “I’ve already left the info with your operator so she knows how to reach me.”

  As Puhi walked away, Xiao felt excitement at the thought of forming a squad with someone this strong. While she was the victor of their match, the young woman held no illusion that, if they fought it out in ten matches, she would lose the majority of them. She had her flamer hidden well but it wouldn’t work a second time. She needed more surprises up her sleeve if she wanted to beat someone with more skill and experience than her. Xiao noticed this during the match when she never once felt she was in control until the end when she caught her opponent off guard.

  I can also take advantage of the other benefits of squads.

  Normally, pilots in the squads came from the same or different academies so they could pool together the resources to all get better. Xiao was in a unique situation where only she could benefit from the resources as she couldn’t provide any personally. The young woman made a mental note to check with Vesna as to whether or not Puhi knew about her outcast status. She wasn’t ashamed of it but she didn’t want to be accused of hiding the fact to gain more resources.

  I should join the others at the party! Will be awkward if they throw one for me and I’m not present.

  After hitting a few dead ends, Xiao made it out of the arena and reunited with the others. They then walked for ten minutes until they arrived at a restaurant by the sea. The reservation put them by the window so they had an incredible view of the sea while they ate. Since she sat beside Vesna, Xiao asked about Puhi and shared her concern.

  “She knows you’re an outcast,” said Vesna before she dug into her lobster pasta.

  Seeing that the girl was more interested in her meal than conversation, Xiao turned her attention to her fish and chips. A single bite of the fish was enough to convince her that she wouldn’t get better seafood anywhere else in her lifetime. As she savored the meal, the young woman put aside her worries of her pilot career.