The 31st Lynx - An Armored Core Fanfiction

Training - Round 2

   Bryant arrived earlier than Selena had expected. Not much earlier, but it was still a shock to her. "Ah, Mr. Bryant."
   "Miss Engell. Are you ready?" Selena nodded and grabbed her coat. Bryant smiled and offered his arm. Selena politely refused, and walked past him. "So tell me, did you honestly mean what you said in your letter?" Selena looked down at her feet as she walked to the car. "It's not everyday we get such a request, you do understand?" Selena nodded.
    "I do understand, sir. But..." Bryant smiled. It was a slightly insane, warrior's smile.
    "What?"
    "I like your fire, I do lass. Change of plans then." He opened the door to the car and gestured for her to enter. He climbed in after her and turned to the driver. "Cancel my reservation, then take us towards the Fringe."
    "The Fringe? But...why?" Bryant settled into a seat across from Selena. "The Fringe is where pilots train to become Ravens." Bryant laughed.
    "Oh ho? Quite the wiz you are. Yes, that is where the Raven's are trained. There are several newcomers this year, so we've had our hands full. But one pilot in particular has given us some interesting troubles." Selena's eyes lit up with concern.
    "You mean Michael, don't you? What kind of trouble has he gotten into?"
    "No trouble yet. Though..." Bryant stroked his beard for a second, "Nevermind that; he's doing well. A bit ambitious, but he's improving at a steady pace." He reached into the center compartment of the car and pulled out a small cooler. "Want a sandwich? I made some last night in case you wanted to visit."
    "Can I see him? Where is he?" Bryant made a gesture for her to calm down.
    "You can see him, yes. But you may not speak to him. A Raven fights alone; always alone." Selena swallowed hard. She was getting nervous again. Bryant was a smart and calculating man. He could manipulate anyone like the back of his hand. Unlike Michael, Bryant knew his power to sway people and didn't hesitate to twist. "However, we can come to some...other arrangement, yes?" Bryant waved the printed copy of her email. "'A Raven needs an operator he can trust', yes? Sounds like something you heard from him." There was an awkward silence. "I'll tell you what," He pushed a sandwich towards her, "eat this, and we'll talk more on the way. I'm interested in your computer skills."

   Michael gripped the controls and took aim. There were more targets this time. He boosted backwards and kept a solid lock. Once each target was down, he stopped and let his energy recover. The simulation was harder now. "Good. Next, five laps around the training arena. You will have a time limit this time." Michael nodded and began firing up his boosters. It was a challenge to monitor the energy consumption and his speed. He fell into a rough rhythm. Try as he might, it was impossible for him to match the grace and fluidity of NEXT level movement. He finished only three laps before time was up. 
    "We will now begin the low-light training." Michael flipped on his night vision and prepared himself. "The targets will now move. There are five of them." Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The HUD flickered on, and Michael took to the air. His vision was cut nearly in half, but that didn't me he couldn't take some risks. He located two of them, and eliminated them with precision missile attacks. He pushed himself to the right and turned off the boosters. As he fell, he caught a glimpse of one of the drones. He pulled the trigger and destroyed it. When the Core landed, there was a crunch, and the number of remaining drones went down. A nice little stroke of luck. A shame it wouldn't last.

    "Beginning survival test. Nothing has changed. Beginning in minus fifteen." Michael counted down, waiting for the buzzer. The sound fired, and Michael jumped into the fray. Michael pushed hard, trying to maximize his booster without crippling his energy reserves. The charge time for an exhausted generator was brutal. Michael jumped, staying airborne. He tried his best to float and dodge like Strayed had done. The modern Cores were slow and clunky in comparison. The Core wasn't able to keep up with the drones. Michael focused on the missile drones. They did the most damage.
     He focused on taking out particular targets, but his focus was split between that and his remaining energy. The bar indicating his remaining energy slowly drained. When it reached the red zone, there was a warning sound. But, the sound was hard to hear over the sound of battle. He constantly was shifting his gaze back to the side panel, and he would always miss his targets and get blasted. His AP dropped rapidly; 70%, 50%, 10%, 0%. Michael cursed and slammed his fist on the dashboard. "Nineteen seconds. You're last time was twenty." So many targets. Too many. And all of them were shooting at him. He felt like he was fighting the Cabracan like Strayed.
     "Wait...Cabracan...Maybe that will work." He remembered what Strayed had done; rush the enemy and shoot them before they shoot you. 
     "Please exit the training-"
     "Wait, excuse me. Can I run the simulation again?" The line went quiet for a moment. 

     "Well..." A different voice appeared on the intercom, "Take as long as you need. The only other trainee already did his training. No more than than an hour though, you will need your rest." 

    Bryant stepped back from the intercom. "Good. Run it again." Selena stood looking a bit nervous. Michael was down there. The small camera in his cockpit let her see his face. It was twisted in frustration and determination. He gripped the controls tight and took a few deep breaths. 
     "Ready!" The simulation started. From the observation deck, Selena could see the hologram of the targets Michael was seeing. His Core activated the OB system, and it shot forward. He didn't stop it quickly enough, and the Core slammed into a wall. Several holographic missiles impacted with the Core. Selena stared intensely at the AP number. It was dropping rapidly, but steadily. Michael turned. His boosters activated, and the core began sliding along the ground. As he moved, he shot at the drones closest to him first. Suddenly, Michael cut his boosters and began walking in the opposite direction. Bryant perked up.

     "Oh ho? Look at him. That was his plan. He's trying the good ol' Hook." Selena never took her eyes off that number. It was down to 45%.
     "What's the Hook?" Bryant laughed and kept watching his machine, not the numbers. 

     "You activate the OBS or boosters. Then, you switch directions to catch your enemy off guard. Due to the turning speed of the modern Cores, the move always works if executed correctly." He pointed to something on the arena floor. "It's a blade technique, but modern Core's can't use its full potential." Selena nodded, too busy watching the number drop to 20%. Michael quickly turned and boosted backwards, drawing the drones in. Then, Michael used the OB to smash through the enemies. Once behind them, he stopped all boosters and turned quickly. He had corralled a majority of the drones in a tight kill-zone. 
     Bryant laughed again. "That's my move! That's how I defeated the Cabracan. I can't believe he adapted that for the modern cores." Bryant put a hand on his beard. "That kid. He has potential." The AP reached 0, and a time flashed across the screen. 
    "Twenty-nine seconds. That puts you in the top ten trainees here." Selena watched as Michael took off his helmet. Sweat was dripping off of him. He looked absolutely exhausted. He smiled, one full of satisfaction but twisted with the adrenaline. 

     "Damn...I can do better." He put the helmet back on. "Run it again." Bryant smiled. 

     "Tenacious. He'll need a good operator, else I don't see him surviving long." Selena watched for a few seconds then turned. 
     "I'm ready. I want to be his operator." Bryant gave his signature warrior's smile. 

     "Brilliant! I'll get the contract and the gel pens."