The Prophet

With my new orders in hand, it was time to move out.

Looking ahead I saw the crossing was just in front of me.

If we were right, the AT should have a clear view of me as I was passing through this crossing, but considering our distance and the time his bullet would take to reach me, it should be next to impossible for him to hit me from where he was... that is, unless he could see into the future...

I was not sure how he was doing this, but this guy seem to have predicted the position of many other Mechs before me and even my own position seconds ago, though he missed by a second, so I couldn't trust my normal common sense and say for sure that he would never hit me as I passed the crossing in front of him, that's exactly why the moment before I step into it I hit the break so hard it almost broke my leg and activated the thrusters to jump backwards.

TA!TA!TA!TA!TA!TA! BOOM!!!

At the second I jumped back a chain of shots was fired at the place I was supposed to pass by, completely missing the mark as I had never stepped forward, but backward instead. As if this was not enough the Artillery shot fell after half a second delay, right in the middle of the crossing, spreading dust and trash everywhere.

(More mech!? Let's ignore them! This is my chance!!)

Taking advantage of the smoke screen created by the explosion, I reverted my speed again, moving forward as I shoot blindly in the direction the chain of shoots had came from. I obviously had no idea if I would hit anything, but my objective was just to make the enemy fall back for a second, giving me the chance to cross the way.

TA!TA!TA!TA!TA!TA!TA!

As expected, upon being showered by bullets, the enemy did the most predictable action which was to take cover, and this gave me just the chance I was waiting for, allowing me to crossing the road while the dust was still covering everything.

(Will this guy follow me or leave me alone?)

I wondered in my head as I proceeded down the road while looking back for any sign of chasers.

32/53...31/53...

Seconds passed and I heard an explosion in the distance. It seems the AT gave up on me and is now aiming at other easier targets. The road I had plenty of high buildings on the North side, giving me cover from the artillery shells, maybe this is why the guy left me alone...

TA!TA!TA!TA!TA!TA!TA! BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!

As I arrived in the next crossroad, where I was supposed to head North, I saw a team of four Titans and another team of three Titans battling each other, making it impossible for me to advance.

The three Titans in the North had built defensive positions with pieces of destroyed vehicles and rubble, making them extremely hard to hit.

The attackers had higher number but their ranged weapons were only pistols, making it quite hard for them to deal extensive damage.

Maybe if they stopped acting so shy and charged at the defenders, they would stand a chance, but the way things were going now, it was unlikely that any of the seven would be taken out anytime soon...

"Champ, I got a problem! The next crossroad is locked!"

TA!TA!TA!TA!TA!TA! BANG! BANG!

"Sorry Builder, I'm occupied, you will have to improvise!"

Knowing that I couldn't count on Raf to make an strategy to me, I clicked my tongue in dissatisfaction.

"Okay, maybe I'm relying too much on him... Let's see what we can do!"

Having no other choice I stopped for a moment to analyze the situation while keeping myself hidden behind a building's wall.

Right ahead the two teams were so catch in their own battle that they didn't even notice my approach. This gave me the advantage of a surprise attack, but I had no normal means to deal with all of them at the same time....

Around me there were many high buildings, including a car park and some commercial buildings full of offices and alike.

Considering the level of detail present on the map I started wondering if this was based on some real location...Fuck! This is not the time to get lost in thoughts! If I stay here too long, I will be discovered and smashed like a bug!

"...Wait! That's it!"

The Titan I was using was a Queen's Guardians model known as Elite Knight, it was a fairly balanced model equipped with both a laser and a ballistic rifle, it had no bombs or weapons of mass destruction, that's exactly why I had equipped in my first extra slot a couple dozen explosive bullets, so that I could use if I needed more fire power.

"Improvise, hmm?"

After calculating the explosion power of each of those bullets and the durability of the pillars in the first floor of the garage, I grabbed a dozen explosive bullets and set them inside half the pillars from the garage. Then I changed my own rifle's ammo for the explosive one and took some distance.

My plan had two objectives, one was to open a new path by collapsing the building, the other was to take down as many as I could while doing so, that's why I set all explosives on the pillars on the east side of the building, so that once it exploded, the building would fall on top of them who were still fighting in the middle of the road...

"Considering the pillar's durability and the resulting explosion, this much should be enough... If this doesn't work, I will have to run away..."

By the time I finished setting up, they discovered me, but then it was too late, so I just waved to them and pressed the trigger while distancing myself from the building...

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

My shot hit one of the pillars I had installed the explosive bullets giving birth to a chain of explosions that soon spread to the other pillars making the whole building collapse to the side.

"TIIIIIMBEEEEEEERRRR!!!!!!!!!"

"The chain of explosions was just as great as I expected! Whoever created the simulator is a true monster for programming all this physic effects correctly! Damn, this is not the time to be here admiring the fireworks!"

As the whole thing collapse it became impossible to see anything around due to all the dust it spread around. Luckily the Titan lens had anti-dust protection, so as soon as I got out of this cloud I should be able to see it again.

I had no idea how many Titans were buried by the rubble and honestly I had no desire to stay here to find out, that's why I turned on the back thrusters at full throttle and made a huge jump toward the place where the building was moments ago, passing over all the wreckage at once and reaching the other side.

After crossing to the other side, I took the North road on the next crossing while looking back to shoot any guy who escaped my trap. Luckily there were no more movements in the collapsed building so I just turned around and continued my path unhindered until my destination.

==//==

From the top of a big parking building the sound of heavy ammo being shot could be heard.

"So that's where the bastard is hidden! Time to make him pay for almost eliminating me!"

The count was down to 23/53, so I had not a lot of time. After another 7 were eliminated the round would end and the finals would start all over again. If I didn't make it in time, I would want to cry if the same shitty experience repeated in the finals!

"Should I go or should I wait for Raf? Dunno... let's contact him."

"Hey Champ, where are you?"

"Can't now!"

Fuck! He is busy again! Anyway, let's take a closer look!

My Titan accelerated on the main road in direction of the parking lot building.

Over there I could see a little skirmish happening between three Titans fighting in the first floor.

At once I recognized the blue-white colored Titan as Raf because of his nickname on top of it.

Turning on the communicator, I spoke in a clear voice.

"I would like a number five burger with fries and no pepper, please!"

"Sorry sir, all number five burgers have pepper inside!"

"Happy to see you, Raf. Need some help?"

"No need. Bypass us and deal with the King of the Hill while I play with these two fuckers."

"All right!"

Because we were talking in the public chat our interaction was heard by the two Titans who were fighting Raf. That's why one of them disengaged Raf and repositioned himself to stop me, but as he got off cover to reposition himself I changed route and attacked the other one with a barrage of shots while Raf moved in to finish him with a slash from his sword.

Our teamwork worked so well that by the time the Titan reached the other cover to stop me, his partner had already left the tournament and leaving him alone to face the two of us.

"Never trust what people say in the public chat..."

"Hahahahaha!"

"Damn you! Take this!"

The guy got angry but anger alone would never do any good. It's not like his Titan would receive a boost from his feelings or it would transform into a super version of itself. Quite the opposite, anger could make one do mistakes that one generally wouldn't do, that's why while fighting in these tournaments would had to control his mood to remain calm. Unfortunately such things are easier said than done...

Leaving the cover he had reached at the cost of his partner, he charged at us like a mad bull, taking advantage of his front armor to resist out shots. His speed was no joke and if he hit either of us the one hit would go down with him, but of course we had no intention of sacrificing ourselves just yet, so instead of letting him approach us, we retreated backward making some distance while we kept shooting at him.

(Damn! This makes me remember my match with Robert.... This pisses me off!)

Taking a deep breath to keep myself calm, my shooting finally made an effective hit on his legs, making him stumble against the wall. Not leaving this chance pass by, Raf finishes him with his Laser sword in a beautiful swing.

"Feee Feeew! Nicely done!"

I whistle in appreciation for the beautifully executed move. I'm sure the people outside must be going crazy right now, cheering "Raf!Raf!Raf!" all the way. For that I'm not a single bit jealous as I recognize that no matter how good my shooting was, it was his swing who stole the show!

"Builder, let's finish this fast, there is only 3 deaths left! Let's make the guy on top be one of them!"

Confirming his saying I saw 19/53 on the top of the screen. The round could end at any moment now, so instead of answering him I just stepped up my pace and ran to the next floor.

Second Floor, Third Floor, Fourth Floor... we proceeded climbing the floors as fast as we could. Luckily there was no more opponents left on the building aside the AT guy, so our climb was fast, with no interruptions...Okay, I take that back!

Reaching the 8th floor, the one before the last, we come across a damn barricade! They had moved all cars and piled them up one on top of the other to make it impossible to proceed. If this was another game, maybe shooting the car would make them explode, unfortunately such a feature was nonexistent on this simulator and even if they exploded, this would be far from enough to clear the path for us.

18/53!

Time was running out, I grabbed one of the cars to move them and heard a little beep.

Booooooom!!!!!!!

Luckily Raf pulled me out just in time to dodge the explosion.

Seeing "death" right in front of me, couldn't help but sweat cold. For a second I trembled thinking I could have died just now, then seconds later came my fury over the coward trap they had set here.

"Fuck! Those damn shits put a fucking mine in below the cars!!"

"Wrong, they put at least four mines there. A single one would never be this strong!"

"Whatever man! I'm pissed off now! I will finish this fucker even if I have to use my bare hands!"

"Yeah, sure. Good luck doing that in this simulator!"

Oh...that's right...we are in the game! Somehow I was so catch in the game that I started losing sight of reality.

"Sorry, I dived too deep."

"I can see that. If you have calmed down now, help me think of a solutions."

I looked at the ramp and found a hole. all the ramp had been destroyed, sealing our way to the last floor.

"17 left, what do we do now? Give up?"

"No, we are so close, let's finish him off!"

"And how do we do that?"

"How about shooting the ceiling?"

"What about if he shoots back?"

"Ugh..."

(If only we could create a step or platform to help us reach the next floor.....Oh wait!)

"I know! Let's try this!"

Taking out my portable wall from the inventory, approached the side of the building and crouched down as if looking down the road

"What are you doing?"

"Wish me luck!"

"Hey, you are not planning to suicide right? It's impossible to jump to the other floor from here!"

"Close but that's not it!"

After fixing the portable wall in the outside wall of the parking lot I activated it, creating a platform akin to a balcony on the building.

"Crazy! I never though of using portable walls like this!"

"Do you want to go first?"

"Yeah! I'm faster! Let me get him!"

Raf stepped over the barrier, walked to the edge, and after confirming there was nothing over him, he turned around, prepared his sword and used the thrusters to jump up.

At that moment, I, who was below him, only heard a loud "bang" and then suddenly saw Raf's Titan half destroyed meters away, being sent flying to the other side of the street.

I looked confused as his Titan flew farther and farther until it hit another building far away.

"What the...?? Raf!!!!!!!!!'

At this moment I looked up and the count was down to 16, the time was over and the screen started to turn black and change to the qualification results.