52 M1 - Term: 1, Round: 5 (1/2)
Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero
M1 Rank: 1/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null
Term: 1, Round: 5
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The four squads from M1 who had progressed to the semi-finals stood at attention in the corral of the top-side exo arena.
The stands were packed with more Middle Academy cadets than the group rounds, all who did not qualify for the semis themselves were now free. With only two matches to be played, it would be over soon, and they could migrate to the other topside arena to watch the U1 mechs in the early afternoon.
The seven members of Thoth zero stood shoulder to shoulder. Each cadet equipped with a railgun long or short barrel, medium exos, and grappler. Every cadet stowed a standard issue swordlance with a shield on their back. All seven.
Lined up with Thoth were the other three squads who qualified for the M1 semi-finals. Osiris Squad zero who would be facing Thoth. While Amun-Ra squad zero were up against Horus squad two.
The reason for Horus squad two's appearance in group one was now obvious. Horus zero had pulled out. Thoth zero were so involved with their own operations, and the fact they insulated themselves from other squads, meant they were unaware of this until after the group stages were underway.
Alfred Almeras, squad leader of Osiris zero, had on a few occasions displayed his loudmouthedness to the Thoth squad he now faced. A lesser man would make a snide remark about how Thoth was going to hand them a beating. Almeras' first interaction with Mitso was to tell them a matter of factly that Thoth were not competition they were merely nerds who would build him equipment in the future.
Barran wandered past Osiris when the short introduction ceremony was complete, ”ready to eat dirt Alfresco?” he snarked without pausing to hear a reply and made his way over to the Thoth starting gate.
Barran adroitly fulfilled the role as Mitso's lesser man.
Osiris carried a range of high powered assault rifles, a couple of miniguns and one cadet wielded a giant two-handed hammer. They were all in heavy exos, fairly standard for this type of squad at this stage. Not many M1 squads had completed equipment upgrades, this historically happened over the three years incrementally. The third year is when squads took equipment very seriously after they had worked out their particular strengths, strategies, style and the obtainability of said equipment.
Traditionally squads spent half the year in M1 finding out what they should be upgrading and how to begin doing so. Advice from elder siblings was that they should initially find out what suited them and then work hard at getting upgrades through tweaks or purchases.
The current Thoth medium v2.6 exo had higher strength, armour and mobility factors than a standard heavy. The values were nominal as they took in many aspects, especially mobility which encompassed speed, responsiveness, jumping power and agility.
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Thoth Medium exo version 2.6.
Strength Factor 9
Armour Value 110
Mobility Factor 2.0
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FMA standard heavy exo
Strength Factor 5
Armour Value 80
Mobility Factor 0.8
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Where M3 squad's equipment was on par overall with Mitso, there was a massive gulf in M1. Given the gap, it would be a major feat if Osiris were able to pull off a victory. Unfortunately for Osiris, they did not know the nominal values of the Thoth exo, they only knew it was good.
The normal procedure for the start of a battle was underway. With two thousand cadet spectators and an unknown number of adults , the match was about to get underway.
Daedo: we will sweep wide to the west. I will mark waypoints on the hud. Keep in line behind Picard. Picard, not too fast, we need to keep together. 65% max speed.
Daedo had run through the tactics the previous night, over and over. Until they were hammered in, at least theoretically. He only spent an hour of contemplation, time was limited if the cadets were to be given time to fathom the dramatic changes.
The foundation strategy was that all seven cadets would stay in close proximity, focus fire on any weak points while minimizing and spreading incoming damage. Daedo added an extra rule that would look ridiculous to their opponents and spectators alike. If a cadet was incapacitated, the squad would need to drag them into a safe area or make the area around them safe.
Picard was the perfect choice for the lead. She could run with a shield all day, was level-headed, highly skilled at ranged and melee attacks. In Daedos mind she was almost the perfect squaddie when it came to on-field battles.
Thoth skirted around the edge of the map, in the shape of a letter ”C” coming at the enemy from the southwest flank. The arena had been updated again, and the map contained four hills, numerous trees, with a creek making crisscrossing in-between the hills.
It was not a map with cover and height like the canyon or urban topography. It was one where speed could play a larger part. At a two-thirds pace, Thoth was almost twice as fast as their opponent's max speed.
As Thoth closed on Osiris, Myrmidon placed a red and orange dots on everyone's HUD. They received sporadic fire from two assault rifles from Osiris' right flank. The extended range and their movement caused the fire to miss. The red dot was their target, the orange dot was the following target.
The entire squad moved to get a line of sight on the target and opened fire with railguns, after three shots he was down. It was first in best dressed in this situation. Daedo sent three to the hill to the south; Gaumont, Vannier, and Axelzero. This group would provide cover fire and take down any approaching enemy.
Picard and Barran drew their shields and swordlances. Daedo and Mace followed behind with medium range railguns.
The standard swordlance was too heavy for non-exo use, being four times the weight of a long sword possessing four edges instead of two. Daedo had no interest in long-term use in its current form. They would upgrade it like every other piece of standard equipment. The reason for its inclusion in the loadout was he wanted to utilise a lance with their current speed advantage, and by utilising a swordlance, it gave the loadout an extra dimension of versatility.
Daedo had plans for the swordlance, he always did. The trust factor from the squad was at an all-time high, wherein the first week he allowed personal equipment selection and made suggestions. Now he dictated loadouts, which were accepted happily.
*Daedo: run him down. Mace and I will attempt a kill shot. If not skewer. Retreat immediately after the engagement.*
Barran and Picard lead at full speed, shields covering most of their body with the smaller Mace and Daedo behind.
Pink dots began appearing on the HUD as more enemy fire began as Osiris tried to regroup on their right flank. Thoth was too fast.
Vannier's group returned fire which delayed the reinforcement. Forcing them behind cover or into prone positions.
Picard took the left side of the tree while Barran slid to the right, their quarry was seeking cover waiting for reinforcement which didn't arrive. The Osiris cadet had been in a no-win situation, retreating or waiting for reinforcements were both futile.
Three stabs from the melee weapons forced the Osiris cadet into deactivation by the AR adjudicator. Daedo's group of four immediately retreated to the treeline to the west.
*Daedo: hold position. Railguns ready. Focus fire on the red dot as soon as it appears until then take attacks of opportunity.*
Known enemy positions were pink. As soon as they came into range or LOS, they would turn red giving Mitso a focus fire target. Secondary targets were changed to orange.
The hill was a strategic position, its height only equalled by the other three hills on the map which were all out of range or sight due to distance and trees. Osiris was aware that a number of Thoth cadets were on the hill and had just taken down their right flank. It was unlikely they knew the exact numbers.
Daedo's plan was to win this battle without losing a single cadet. He would be patient and whittle down Osiris. Today this goal was feasible, tomorrow against M3SS0 it would be almost impossible.
*Daedo: hold position.*
There was no need for cadets to call enemy sighting, Myrmidon was monitoring feeds from all cadets and updating the HUD of enemy positions based on sound, sight and other sensory information. When sensors lost an enemy player position Myrmidon would extrapolate based on available data and years of machine learning which began while playing CyberMech.
Humans were humans. And the learning Myrmidon achieved with tracking and anticipation in CyberMech was transferrable to, the almost real, AR arena combat. Where the reflex and CyberMech combat skills were lost to Daedo, some strategies remained. And certainly, strategy formulation was one of his strengths he developed while playing the game.
The two squads began to exchange fire. Thoth had a major advantage with the railgun damage output compared to the assault rifles that Osiris was using. Osiris had a few options, while Daedo was patiently waiting for them to attack. Osiris had lost two cadets and were down to five. What remained was two assault rifles, two miniguns and the hammer. Almeras had one of the miniguns.
*Daedo: Myrmidon target priority Assault Rifles.*
Osiris got into position to attack the hill. Which was the obvious strategic move, the hill controlled the battlefield. The two cadets with assault rifles would provide cover fire while the other three charged up the hill.
*Daedo: take out the ARs. Retreat before the miniguns get into range.*
Daedo would allow Osiris the hill. Where yesterday he would be bold and steamroll the enemy, today he was conservative.
All seven Thoth Cadets targeted the Assault Rifle cadets, which Daedos group ranging to the northeast in order to get a better line of sight, away from Vannier's hill.
Vannier's group retreated down the west side of the hill while Daedo took out the Assault Rifle cadets leaving Almeras and the other two remaining cadets alone on top of the hill.
Daedo pinged the minimap on their HUD.
*Daedo: converge at this location.*
The two groups swung around the hill staying out of range from Osiris close combat cadets. Attacks of opportunity were taken while they moved with no resulting casualties. Thoth had the range advantage and could shoot sporadically while moving.
Thoth now had Osiris at one hundred and eighty metres with trees and undulations ruining the LOS.
*Daedo: forty-metre envelope.*
The cadets arranged in an arc with one every ten metres and advanced to one hundred and twenty-metre range, where they could take pot shots at Osiris with impunity. Osiris needed to retreat or charge. If they remained, they would die to Railgun fire in less than a couple of minutes.
Osiris charged down the hill.
The match was over in ten seconds.
The arena battle was never in doubt, not with the disparity in equipment quality. Thoth had never practised this tactic, and an unequal match, albeit semi-final was the perfect opportunity to do so. They not only benefited from the drill, but it was also certain their opponents were scratching their heads at the change of formation, loadout and the transition from aggressive to conservative tactics.
The semi-finals for M3 were tomorrow morning while the final for M1 was early afternoon.