- Reapers vs Ironforged, Round Two

Soon, the Klaxon rang out around the arena, clearly audible through the sleek television in real time, despite the vast amount of space between it and the academy.

"And, I'm not too sure what's happened here, not just by looking at the arena below us, anyway. According to my monitor, the Ironforged have indeed taken the first round. However, they lost seven people from the crossfire set up by the Reapers. You heard that correctly, seven."

"Yeah, a surprisingly good first round from the Reapers, considering they had all but lost right from the start. For those who are not aware, there are two ways to obtain points. Three points are awarded for a round win, with ten points earned for a match win. Then, points are earned for elimination differential. No points are deducted in this manner, however.

Different circumstances to the last time we saw them, but the same issue in this first round. This is something that the Reapers are going to have to work out of their performances."

"The question is, how-"

Hearing a knock on the door, she muted the television and went to answer.

"A couple of transports escaped to the surface of a near world," Jewel asked, as soon as the door swung open. "Should we pursue?"

"Send the Angel's Wings. We do not need everything we have to defeat stragglers. We will remain in anchor above, just in case of emergencies."

"How's it going," Jewel asked, nodding towards the television. "Your boyfriend doing well?"

"Boyfriend? What do you mean?"

"Come on. You've told me about him so much, in such a wistful, heartachey way. What am I supposed to think?" she replied with a sly smirk on her face, one that betrayed her teasing manner.

"Seriously? Do you want me to bring up that guy from Mars?"

"That's different."

"Yeah, it is. You two actually did stuff together."

"And you actually talk about him like you're some schoolgirl. How can I not tease you?"

"Whatever," Kaya said, shaking her head. "It's too early to tell right now. They're down by a round, but I think they might be able to figure something out."

***

'Well, we might've lost, but at least I earned another ten Leadership Points,' Gus thought, as the system message popped into his view.

"We lost that one, but it's fine. Now we know what their plan will be for the next ones will be."

"What about ours, Gus? What's our plan for this one?" Emmy asked.

"We start the same, but we do it quicker," Gus said. "We get up into the tower behind us and take angles on the flag, and catch the flag in a crossfire. Once we've made it difficult for them to take it, and are hopefully up by a couple of people, we push into the centre. We overwhelm the flag, take it, and get it back here to the tower, to Kyle."

"Won't they just lock down the centre? Like they did with the last round?" Teala asked. "They've got a whole bunch of cybernetics in their arsenal."

"That's what I'm hoping for," Gus replied.

"You're… hoping they make it harder for us?" she responded in a confused tone.

"No. I'm just hoping they think that they're making it harder for us," Gus replied. "Any of you think you might be able to get up onto those boxes?" he asked with a nod of his head toward the fenced boxes.

"Oh! I see what you're going for," Kyle said enthusiastically. "It's something that should work. We used it all the time when hunting dangerous things back home, and there was nothing they could do about it."

"Yeah, I agree," Connor said. "Actually, I have no clue what's happening here. Can either of you explain it to me?"

"There's not enough cover in the space where the flag is," Gus said. "They're planning on using smokes to overcome this issue, and once they have the flag, then it's pretty hard for us to take it back. By hitting the area early while they try to take it, we can pick them off before moving in for a steal when we have a significant numbers advantage."

"How will we know when we have a numbers advantage?" Claire asked.

"There's a small sound cue whenever there's an elimination," Anten said. "I can just hear it, but I'll call when, what, half? Are gone. Sound good?"

"Oh, right. That's not bad," Connor assessed. "But, who's going up there? I'd be alright to,, if that's okay?"

"I can get up there pretty fast, too," Faye said.

"Alright then. Stay low up there. Do not let them see you on those boxes. Kyle will take the tower, you two will be on the boxes. Joel, Anten, with me. Teala, take the rest to the right. The second we see smoke, we slam shots into it until that klaxon goes.

Moments later, the klaxon rang to signify the start of a new round. Immediately, the members of the Reapers moved to their designated positions in accordance to the plan. Just as it had the previous round, canisters of smoke bounced around near the flag, before hissing open and spilling their white clouds out into the surrounding area.

Immediately, the symphony of fire started.

"One down!" Anten called. "Two! Three!"

*Enemy Eliminated.*

*Reward: [50] EXP.*

*Enemy Eliminated.*

*Reward: [50] EXP.*

"In, now!" Gus yelled, drawing the blunt melee weapon and leading his squad into the smoke. He slammed it into the palm of his hand as he ran, and was surprised to feel that it was soft upon impact, extremely soft.

Once in the smoke, he began wildly swinging. Whenever it made contact with something, his heart pounded with excitement, but he never received a system message. Within what felt like an instant, the Klaxon rang once again and the round was over.

*Round 2: Enemies Eliminated: [4]*

*Reward: [50] EXP x 4*

'Strange,' Gus thought. 'Why is the system being inconsistent?'

"And they've done it again. For the second time, a stroke of tactical genius by the Reapers nets them the second round, and ties the game up. What's more, they won by elimination, without losing a single person. At present, they earn twenty whole points from this game!"