It has been a week since the end of the recruitment season. Nearly twenty sentinel pilot recruits have been added to the UNS Eternity's roster. Not to mention the various new recruits among the rest of the ship.
Now there was one new goal: the new operation taking place in the Kuiper Belt. Today was the day Captain Aurora would give a public briefing to the entire crew.
The speakers around the ship all went off at once.
"Crew, please stop what you are doing unless it's of major importance; however, make sure you listen; Captain Aurora is about to begin the briefing of the operation."
Everyone quickly stopped to listen to the announcement.
"Hello everyone, this is your captain speaking. Some of you know, but we have an important operation coming up. There have been reports of Centauri Empire activity in the Kuiper Belt. The UNS Eternity, along with the ships the UNS Annapolis, the UNS Evangelion, and the UNS Florence, will all be taking part in this operation. If this is truly Centauri activity, we can't afford to take it lightly, so it will be up to us to stop anything from possibly happening. This will be up to each and every one of you.
"Now our strategy will be the UNS Evangelion, and the UNS Florence will be with us in attacking directly; however, the UNS Annapolis will be backing us up from range. Fireteams Alpha, Delta, Epsilon, and Theta will take priority on the frontlines. Fireteams Iota, Sigma, and Tau will be in reserve.
If this turns into a firefight, there will be mass chaos, so because of this, I will be organizing all units into a squad-on-squad simulation battle. This will be especially important for the new recruits to gel with your units. Now matchups will be Fireteam Alpha vs. Delta, Beta vs. Gamma, Epsilon vs. Theta, Zeta vs. Eta, Iota vs. Omega, and Sigma vs. Tau. All mock battles will be studied by all handlers. Good luck everyone!
Every pilot put on their uniforms to get ready for the simulation match.
In the waiting room sat Ren, along with his friends Scarlet, Lily, and Tyler. Also there was Lena, the handler of Fireteam Epsilon, and the Squad Captain herself, Eleonora Millescent. There were also the other members of Fireteam Epsilon there as well.
"Okay guys, today we will be facing Fireteam Theta. I'm good friends with their squad leader, and trust me, there's nothing she wants more than to lord this over me. So make sure you kick her and her squad's ass. Now we are going to break into three teams. Team 1 will be led by me, Team 2 will be led by Vice Captain Grace, and Team 3 will be led by...Ren."
Everyone in the squad was surprised Ren was named as a team leader; considering how important the squad captain had been taking this, the fact she named a recruit was shocking.
"Now listen up, Team 1 will consist of myself, Kian Reid, James Willis, Jessica Andrews, and Jake Reilly.
Team 2 will be Vice Captain Grace Burton, Raina Spencer, Sam Robinson, Scarlet Lister, and Chloe Elliott.
And finally, Team 3 will be Ren, Serenity Winters, Lily Holmes, Tyler Lawson, and Sakura Mitsui.
Team 1 and Team 2 will be fighting on the frontlines, attracting as much attention from the enemies as possible, while Team 3 will be using guerilla tactics. You guys will target those who you can easily eliminate, and if possible, any of their top guys."
Everyone met up with their groups and started to talk about the strategy. Ren had to learn about his new team since he had barely worked with them before. He knew Lily and Tyler, but the other three were completely new to him.
Ren was the first to speak. "Sorry everyone, I know my leading this team was unexpected; trust me, I was even more surprised than any of you; however, that doesn't change the plan. I was trusted to do this, so I plan to do the best I can. Now we need to learn more about how we operate on the battlefield. So first let me say that I'm talented in both combat and strategy, and I know how to adapt to the given situation. Those are the tools I offer in this battle. Now next up is Serenity."
Serenity Winters was the only person on Team 3 who wasn't a new recruit, as she had been recruited tfrom the Miami Academy. She had long pink hair and blue eyes, and like most girls on this ship, she was beautiful.
Serenity introduced herself while standing very seductively. "Hello, my name is Serenity, and on the battlefield I typically take out as many enemies as possible before they see me. My sentinel is equipped with missile launders on the shoulder pads to help maximize damage. It's a pleasure to work with you."
And to be even more seductive, she ended her introduction with a wink at Ren.
"She's going to be trouble." Ren thought to himself.
Afterwards, both Lily and Tyler introduced themselves to the group. Lily told everyone how she specializes in snipers, while Tyler was mainly a basic combat unit but could also repair any units as needed as his sentinel was given mechanic equipment.
And finally was Sakura Mitsui; she had short black hair and brown eyes and was smaller in height than the others. She was the 16th-ranked student at the Kyoto Academy in Japan. She spoke mainly Japanese, but it was protocol for every academy to teach multiple languages, so she also knew English fairly well.
"Uhm..my name is Sakura. It's nice to meet all of you. Like you, Ren, I'm also talented with strategy, but not open combat, so on that front, I'll be trusting you four."
"Well, I think it's time we come up with a strategy here; considering we're a five-person team, we need to be careful, so Lily, you specialize in distant combat, so that's where you'll be." Ren pointed at an area of the map. "I want Sakura to be there, too. In case things go wrong for my part of the team, you will be taking over as the main strategist. You will communicate with Team 1 or 2 and give them support. Meanwhile, Tyler and Serenity will be with me. I want us to flank the enemy teams and Serenity to unleash hell on their support units in the back. Then me and Tyler will start gunning down anyone we can with Serenity's help. Lily will pick off any targets that give up trouble, and we should be alright as long as the other teams do their jobs."
With some minor tweaks to the plan for every team, they waited for their match to be called. In the meantime, two other mock battles happened. Fireteam Alpha beat Fireteam Delta, and Fireteam Gamma beat Fireteam Beta.
"Fireteams Epsilon and Theta, prepare for your mock battle simulation." the speaker announced.
Eleonora stood up and clapped her hands "Everyone, get ready; it's time. You know your roles; remember, once you're kicked out of the simulation, you're out."
Everyone followed Eleonora to the hanger while Lena went to the handler's private rooms and logged in to monitor the squad.
"Once everyone on Fireteam Epsilon logged into the simulation, they heard Lena on the headset.
"Okay everyone, you are all green to go. I'll be giving you advice as I see the need for it; otherwise, be careful everyone; not even I can see everything." Lena said.
Ren prepared and said on his team's comms, "Team 3, you know your jobs; Lily and Sakura prepare at the distance; Tyler and Serenity are with me; we'll let the main forces fight it out a bit before we make our move."
"Right!" everyone on Team 3 said.
Ren, Tyler, and Serenity took cover in the nearby fake asteroid belt and waited as the main forces started fighting.
It wasn't long before the elimination announcements began.
"Fireteam Epsilon member Sam Robinson Eliminated."
Fireteam Theta member Zach Watts Eliminated
Fireteam Theta member Iria Lerida Eliminated
Fireteam Epsilon member James Willis Eliminated."
"It's started." Tyler said on comms.
"Ren! I see two members of Theta on the outside heading your way; it seems they had a similar idea. Permission to engage?" Lily said on the comms.
"Granted, Tyler, prepare for company after she takes those shots; our positions will be exposed. Serenity, as soon as she fires, rain hell." Ren said.
"Understood!" Tyler said.
"Of course, anything you say~" Serenity said sensually.
"Yeah...big trouble." Ren thought to himself.
Then two shots were fired from a distance, and the speaker came on.
"Fireteam Theta member Kevin Aguinaldo Eliminated
Fireteam Theta member Jonas Phillips Eliminated."
"Serenity Now!" Ren yelled on the comms.
Soon missiles fired from the shoulders of Serenity's sentinel, and explosions were seen in the distance.
Ren got on the comms and talked to Eleonora and Grace, saying "You guys should be good to make a push."
Ren saw the destruction Serenity's missiles caused, and all he could say was
"Goddamn..."
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