Manuel entertained the four new Paladin pilots for half an hour. He gave them various pointers on how to exert better control over their newfound powers, and how they should regularly train in order to avoid letting their skills get rusty. Not that any of them were even thinking of lazing around.
"If you want, we can have a small spar." He suggested with a warm smile.
Those words piqued Moses' attention, and he immediately sat up.
"I would like a spar!" He said boldly before his companions could even finish processing the words.
Manuel nodded his head at Moses' statement before turning to the others. "Does anyone else want to spar with me?" He asked. Following Moses' example, the others began agreeing to have a friendly spar.
On the way to Pluto, they had tested their new abilities with the help of simulators, but they were hungry for a real challenged. After breaking through and generating a Paladin, their skills, prowess, and abilities had undergone an irreversible, and game changing metamorphosis that put them on a whole different level when compared to before.
Now, Manuel, a senior Paladin pilot, was offering to spar with them. Such an opportunity would be a great help to them!
Manuel turned to look at William, and the man just shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to see what a fight between them would look like. He had watched plenty of footage of Paladins fighting, but this would be the first time he was seeing it in person.
Seeing that William did not mind, Manuel stood up and led the four new Paladin pilots to the hangar bay. William went a separate direction to handle the transportation of Manuel and the others' Paladins. They would be taken to outer space before being deployed in order to avoid any mishaps during their spar.
When the group got to the hangar bay, they noted that it was a different one from the one that they had arrived in. That was not too surprising, as any military base would have at least a dozen different hangar bays for rapid deployment of warships and mechs. A frigate was waiting for them at one of the docks, along with William, who had used a floater platform to rush here from a different path. He had used a high priority passage, which was much more faster than other passages in the base.
"Sure took your time." William grinned when they approached him. Maybe he was a bit too excited for this fight, but there was nothing they could do about it. They could only carry him along with them. Together, the group got in the frigate, and after a short delay, the starship took off with a slight rumble. Hot, blue fire spewed out from its thrusters as it blasted off and broke through the resistance of the gravitational pull that Pluto gave off.
Moses and the others did not bother with anything concerning the take off procedure. They all approached the line of imposing mechs that were standing to the side in the hangar bay. Manuel looked up appreciatively at the three Paladins that were larger than his own, before quirking his brow in confusion.
"Should there not be four Paladins?" He turned doubtfully to William, thinking that the man had fumbled.
"Oh, no. All the Paladins are present. Moses, if you please." William smirked and turned to Moses. He had already gotten the rundown on how things worked with Moses and his Paladin.
Moses nodded and stepped back to give himself enough space, before reaching within himself and letting the 'veil' that covered Hex to fall. With an inaudible pop, Hex materialized into being behind Moses.
"Whoa." Manuel took an instinctive step back before composing himself the next second. He had been a Paladin pilot for a few years now, so he had seen a lot of stuff. A Paladin popping out of nowhere was not one of those things.
"A... Pocket space?" He eventually asked. He had heard of some Paladins possessing their own pocket spaces where they could store ammunition or weapons, but he had never heard of a Paladin being able to hide itself within a pocket space.
"Err, something like that." Moses scratched his head and looked up at Hex. The red and gold Paladin stood imposingly, releasing a subtle aura that hinted at a crouching beats.
"I have to say, your Paladins look much flashier than most that I have seen." After appreciating the sight for a few more moments, Manuel spoke up with a short laugh.
After a short while, the frigate approached an asteroid belt that was not too far off from Pluto. It was a location that was regularly used for live practice sessions among the mech pilots in the base, so it was suitable for a run between the five Paladin pilots. The hangar bay of the frigate opened up and five sleek, powerful mechs engaged their flight systems before flying out of the frigate.
Manuel's sleek black mech distanced itself from the four larger Paladins that belonged to Moses and the others. In its hands were two long daggers, and a carbine pistol was on its hip for a ranged solution, but Manuel did not plan on using it in this fight unless it was necessary.
"Are you guys ready?" He asked over the communication channel.
"One moment." Moses replied as he went over the plan of action with his comrades. They would not charge Manuel mindlessly. Not only was he stronger than them, but he was also much more experienced when it came to high level battles. He would surely exploit their weaknesses to exert more pressure on them, so they had to plan their moves carefully.
After some deliberation, Moses and Richard flew forward while Anthony and Bethany retreated to the rear. This was not just a random plan, but also as a result of their different mech types.
Moses and Richard piloted melee combat oriented mech types, while Bethany piloted a knight mech archetype. As for Anthony, he piloted a rifleman mech type, so the two of them were best suited to stay back. Anthony could apply pressure on Manuel from a distance, while Bethany protected his fragile mech from any surprises that Manuel had in store for them.