Chapter Five: Decisions

The world was in a state of shock after the announcement of the Azure Cup; both military factions were left crippled as the majority of their MF pilots ran to register. Both the EAP and the TA became nothing more than a military with an air force along with ground troops and a few tanks. The politicians in the TA had little problem with the tournament and the massive amount of pilots who left to sign up, Genesis had come up with a way to divert attention from the war itself. Over the two weeks that had passed since the announcement people had been flocking to Genesis to find out all the information in regards to the Azure Cup, even some civilians decided to enter in hopes of proving their skill outside of the Virtual World. There was little the government could do since the contract between Genesis and TA allowed Luscious to hold any time of event regarding MFs, and that the MF pilots would be allowed to leave the military for the duration of the event. It was a clause that Luscious had hidden from plain sight; the MF pilots were technically working for Genesis as long as they piloted the frames. Some MF pilots did remain in the standard military only because they felt their skill was of a low class and wouldn’t even make it far in the tournament. The barrier at the edge of the South Western territory remained intact while neither side approached. Unlike the tragic event that transpired 2 years ago there was no need for an armistice. The war continued on with little MF encounters and a high influence of ground troops and armored tanks. Mars lit up in battles once again, the battles were limited in locations and both sides suffered tremendous casualties. Despite the continuing tragedies on Mars Earth continued to remain in a general state of ecstasy over the idea of an internationally broadcast sporting event between the world’s best MF pilots. The war remained strictly on Mars leaving Earth to remain in its state of false peace however the people didn’t mind. Before the mention of the Azure Cup people were stricken with grief and fear over the war, they all feared that it might fall to Earth and battles would occur in their backyard. Luscious managed to out smart both governments, the EAP and the TA since they supplied basic MF parts to the EAP and the EAP’s own organization, Revelation built and produced their MFs. Genesis mainly manufactured MFs for the TA, but still increased their profit by trading with Revelations out East.

The Azure Cup tournament already had a constant increasing number of competitors, currently with 4 weeks left until the registration deadline over 100 MF pilots signed up. The space station Prosperity was Genesis’ crowning achievement in the past decades, it was a massive spherical like structure connected to an elongated rectangular structure by four tubes allowing for passage to either side of the station. Within the 2 weeks since the announcement over 50 pilots along with at least 45 civilians have been safely transported to the space station and are currently familiarizing themselves with the interior of the station.

Another shuttle prepared to leave from MacArthur spaceport, another good amount of pilots and friends continued to haul their luggage in anticipation.

“Are you really sure this is a good idea? I mean leaving the war in order to fight in a sporting event?” Heather asked as she dragged her suitcase along the ground. Adam smiled turning back to her.

“It’s fine; hopefully with the lack of MF pilots both sides will just stop fighting. It makes sense if you think about it. I mean with all of the MF pilots gone both the EAP and the TA are going to have to resort to using ground soldiers, by doing so there’s a bigger risk of a higher death rate. And if you’re feeling guilty about leaving think about this, if there aren’t any MFs to worry about then what would you do? They wouldn’t send out an MF platoon against ground soldiers. Not according to the Codes of Conduct in War contract created during the Humanitarian Treaty. MFs are only to be deployed if the other side if able to fight back with an MF.” Adam replied. Sharon nodded, she too was preparing to head out into space although it was against Adam’s judgment. Each competitor was allowed to bring one friend or family member for support.

“I guess…but still, I’m not sure why I’m going now. I mean I want to support you guys, but let’s face it; I’m not one of the most skilled MF pilots around. I’ll probably be knocked out in the first round.” Heather mentioned sullenly.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.” Sharon blurted out from behind. Heather sighed, but then smiled back.

“Has anyone seen my brother? I mean he said he’d be here shortly.” Adam asked.

“He’s probably on his way….” Heather glared back at Adam with what appeared to be a half cocked smirk. Her eyebrows angled inwards, she knew something.

“What? What’s the look for?”

“It would appear that your friend, Ashley has taken a liking to him.” Heather replied.

“Ashley? Hahahaha, that’s a good one. What makes you say that?” Adam asked while trying to hold his gut from bursting. Heather smiled and nodded her head to the side.

It took a second but Adam glanced over to the right; there was Stephen walking with his luggage and behind him was Ashley carrying a few bags as well.

“Ashley?!” Adam yelled.

Ashley pulled down her sun glasses a few inches to get a good view of Adam. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail flowing over her shoulder. Her lips thinned as they moved into a crescent formation that caused a few dimples to appear by her cheek.

“Hey Adam!” She yelled out as her head shot out over Stephen’s right shoulder. Stephen let out a sigh.

“Don’t tell me she’s coming too!” Adam remarked.

Ashley’s face turned bright red from anger, she pushed Stephen aside running up to Adam. Her bags dropped to the ground in her haste. Her finger extended out towards Adam’s face as she began to yell. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?! What?! You don’t want me to come? And I thought we were friends!” Her voice shrieked outwards, both Sharon and Heather just turned their heads so they wouldn’t have to watch the brawl. Stephen just stood covering his face with his right hand. Adam’s eyes were widened, every time he would attempt to make a rebuttal Ashley continued to yell.

“Will you two just drop it? I thought it would be nice for her to come along. I mean you two were childhood friends who just happened to run into one another. Besides I don’t really have anyone else to bring with such short notice.” Stephen mumbled.

“Sorry…I just wasn’t expecting you to come along. I mean don’t you have a job? A boyfriend? A life in general?” Adam asked.

“I do have a life; I’m just taking a vacation from it right now. I’m an operator for the military.”

Adam stood there in shock; he never had expected Ashley to be involved in the military, even if it was low risk job.

“You’re an MF operator? Since when?”

“Ever since that day I almost lost my life. I realized that some things needed to be protected so I offered to help out in any way I could. I was always good with communications so I was assigned to operate some MF pilots…”

“Just recently she was transferred to our unit.” Stephen interrupted.

“Wait what?! You can’t be serious, what about Veronica?” Veronica was their operator, always had been since she brought Adam to the military exam.

“She quit…”Stephen mumbled.

“She quit? Why did she go and do that? She was perfect, she knew exactly how we fought as a team and was the best operator I had ever met.” Adam continued to blurt out.

“She has her reasons….but I figured that this tournament might do Ashley some good. She’ll be able to see how we fight, and this also gives us some time to get to know one another.” Stephen replied as he picked up his bags and began to head towards the entrance ramp. “We better hurry, the shuttle leaves in 40 minutes and Mario is already waiting for us on Prosperity.”

Adam cringed and then glanced at Ashley who just stuck her tongue out and picked up her luggage. Adam, Sharon and Heather just remained standing outside of the gate tunnel in awe.

“So, she’s our new operator huh…” Heather mumbled.

“It would seem so…” Adam replied.

“You think she’ll be able to handle it?”

Adam smirked. “She’s a strong person, the question is, can we handle her?”

            Mario stood staring into the dark abyss that was space. He had already been on Prosperity for a week now and had familiarized himself with the majority of the station. He was amazed how the interior of Prosperity was like a massive mall; there were dozens of restaurants in the food court, a few MF part stores along with a clothing store. He wasn’t sure why the station would need all of these things but he figured that if they were all going to be living on Prosperity for the duration of the tournament Genesis was trying to make the pilots all feel at home. The pane glass window gave a good view of the Earth and the stars. Mario felt at peace for the first time in a long time.

“Mario Liberalis correct?” A feminine voice breached. Mario slightly turned around to notice a vibrant girl with short raven black hair and green eyes. Her skin was a dark shade of tan, the girl was wearing a black short sleeve shirt and denim jeans. Her lips were covered in a crimson gloss; they sparkled as she smiled back at him.

“Yes, I apologize but I’m not familiar with your name.” He mentioned.        

“You wouldn’t, I’m just an Ensign in USMF. I’m currently stationed in the Procella unit. My name is Michelle Ferus.” Michelle said while she extended her right arm. Mario smiled and gladly accepted the hand shake.

“So you’re an Ensign in Chris’ unit huh? What made you come all the way up here?”

“Well everyone in Lieutenant Procella’s unit all registered and I didn’t want to be left on Mars by myself. I don’t really expect to go that far in the actual tournament.” Michelle replied.

“Eh, I’m sure you’re a lot better than you think.”

“Thanks…but, I’ve always wanted to ask. How is it fighting alongside the Novus brothers?”

The sheer mention of their name caused Mario’s confidence and ego to dwindle as he felt like a knife was trusted into his chest. He hated it when people especially girls would mention either Stephen or Adam. Even though he knew it was Stephen’s unit he always felt like his potential was being shoved into the shadows due to the mere Novus name.

“Eh, they’re nothing special. I don’t know how many times I had to bail their sorry asses out of a jam.” Mario replied laughing.

“You had to help them! Wow, you must be one incredibly skilled pilot. Would you mind showing me some of your moves?”
Mario’s eyes lit up instantly, they sparkled in the darkness of the corridor.

“Michelle, I would be happy to show you my moves.” He replied.

Every seat in the training arena was filled by either MF pilots of spectators that came to Prosperity with their MF pilot friends. Mario’s eyes widened as this was the first time he had seen the training arena, it was nothing more than hundreds of seats in front of a massive pane glass window. Mario shrugged his shoulders glancing over to Michelle.

“Umm, where’s the arena?” Mario questioned. Michelle smirked and then pointed to the window. At first he saw nothing but then he noticed a flashing orange explosion all the way in the background of space. It was then that he put 2 and 2 together; the arena was out in space.

“They’re training in space? Out in space with no boundaries or solid ground?!” Mario took a gulp along with a deep breath. He never imagined fighting out in the depth of space before.

“Well there’s solid ground if you find some. There is debris from the asteroid belt randomly floating out there. But it’s not like you need solid ground since there is no gravity in space.” Michelle replied.

“I see…”

“I’m guessing you haven’t been down here once since you cam to Prosperity. Well let me inform you then, the tournament matches are all going to be taking place out there… in space. That’s why Genesis created this training arena.”

“Huh? Wait a minute, if it’s a boundless arena in space, then how did Genesis make it?”

“Technically they didn’t make it, but they placed floating markers that are used to keep the pilots in this region of space. If they didn’t place the markers than who knows how far out the MFs would go. It would be possible that they would go out so far that they wouldn’t be able to come back and would be stranded in space forever.” Michelle replied.

“I see…so who’s out there now?” Mario asked.

“Umm, let’s see, there should be a display with the pilot’s names and general information…ah, here we go.” Michelle pointed to a small LCD screen that showed a picture of the pilot along with his or her MF’s information.

“Reine Proprius from the TA, piloting MF, Sigma. A medium armored quad-legged MF, equipped with a sextuple energy cannon attached to the back of the core, and holds a napalm rocket launcher, also comes equipped with an energy scythe. Hmm, seems impressive enough.” Mario mumbled.

“Who’s he fighting?” Michelle asked. Mario shrugged his shoulders and looked at the LCD one more time.

“It’s some guy calling himself Rebel358. Doesn’t say much about him or where he’s from, just that his MF is called Shadow and is a medium armored bipedal. Its armaments are a plasma rifle and just an energy saber…”

“That’s it? Just two weapons?!” Michelle exclaimed.

“Yeah, that’s what it says.” Mario replied. A massive bright explosion grabbed their attention. Out of the orange flickering light fell the quad MF, Sigma. The MF was a wreck, missing three out of the four legs; its core was bursting out sparks of electricity and its sextuple cannon was down to one remaining barrel. Suddenly the opposing MF, Shadow sped in front of Sigma aiming the plasma cannon at the core. Everyone watching jumped out of their seats as they watched spheres of fuchsia energy began to formulate around the edge of the rifle as Sigma floated defenseless.

“NO! He’ll kill him!” Mario screamed.

Just then a thick beam of plasma energy fired only to tear through the remaining energy cannon on the back of Sigma.

“The match is over. Is there anyone here who can give me a sufficient warm up? If this is all this tournament has to offer then you all should go back to your stupid, fruitless war.” Rebel358 said over the intercom. The interference from the outside caused his voice to be distorted but the message was clear. His confidence was astounding but from the performance it was hard to discredit him. Sigma was disheveled while Shadow appeared to be in perfect condition. The beams of light that emanated from the sun glistened off the dark obsidian and red metallic armor as the MF floated in space. Mario’s fist shook as he withheld his anger.          

“That guy is mighty confident of himself…someone is going to have to shut him up.” Mario mumbled. Michelle’s eyes lit up brightly, she never had the pleasure of seeing any pilot from the Novus unit fight, she figured now might be her chance.

“Are you going to fight him?” Michelle asked.

“I should…but I said I’d show you my moves first.” Mario replied, his arm now wrapped around Michelle’s shoulders.

“I know. I thought this would have been the perfect time for you to show me your moves.” Michelle replied.

“Oh….yeah, those moves. Right, then I guess…yeah I’ll shut this ball of arrogance up!” Mario screamed.

“I wouldn’t underestimate him if I were you!” A boyish voice boomed forth from behind. Mario quickly turned around to see a boy about 15 or 16 standing in front of him. The boy’s dirty blonde hair covered his crimson tinted eyes.

“He has been fighting for over 12 hours straight now and hasn’t been touched once. He doesn’t seem to get exhausted either. He’s probably too much for you to handle..” The boy replied.

“What?!” Mario couldn’t believe the audacity of this boy. He soon let his anger leave his body and he began to laugh.

“You’re funny kid, what’s your name?”

“I’m Zach and we’ve met before Mario Liberalis!” Zach exclaimed.

Mario leaned back onto the frigid and pallid wall behind him, his left hand scratching the lower part of his chin. He then leaned forward believing that he figured out where he met the boy before but in the midst of his leaning forward he sighed and shook his head.

“Nope, sorry. I think I would have remembered meeting a squirt like you.”

“Squirt?! What the hell?! I met you at the edge of the South Western Territory! I’m the Whisper of Death!” Zach screamed.

“Oh, I wasn’t aware that death was a prepubescent little boy.” Mario replied with a grin.

“…YOU!!!”

“Come back when you’re voice changes. I have battle to prepare for.”