Leonard's mech loaded into a wartorn instance, the blackened mud filled fields stretching on as far as the eye could see. Summer's mech materialised before him, the same spearmech she had used before.
Leonard for his part took a mech that most closely resembled the one he used back in the Iron Knights, a tall knight type mech with a long spear. Similar to Summer's mech with the spear, but while hers could be classified a light mech his was very heavy.
"Oh come on," Summer complained through their joint communications as she saw the mech Leonard was using. "Not another knight. Can't you pick something else?"
"Afraid not," Leonard grinned as the holographic timer above their heads started counting down from 10. "But don't worry, I won't be a turtle like the last knight you fought."
His hands itched to fight, his eyes watching the seconds count down.
"Sorry about this." He said to Summer as the clock struck zero.
"Sorry about wha-" Leonard struck, moving much faster than what a heavy mech like his should be able to, forcing Summer to retreat back. "What the hell!?"
Leonard gave chase, a feral grin beginning to cover his face. He feigned an attack to her left, piercing forward with his spear. Summer dodged to the right, taken off balance by the speed of the attack and again when the spear halted its path and swung towards her, a large gash appearing in her armour as he slashed across her mech.
The ceaseless assault took her feet out from under her, in an attempt to back away as quickly as possible she tripped over a mound in the terrain. Leonard flashed over top of her still falling form, spear menacingly pointed down at her before he thrust it through her cockpit, her simulation pod instantly going black.
"What the hell was that!" She exclaimed as she loaded back into the lobby, the fight having finished before she could even draw her spear. "Did you buy a next gen mech or something? How the hell can that thing move that fast!"
"It's called experience dearest sister," Leonard mocked her as he too tired to come to terms with what he had just done. He had never once been able to move a mech like that, as a beginner pilot he still wrestled with the basics.
"Bullshit!" Summer yelled. "Let me see your mechs specs, I don't believe you for a second."
"If you want," Leonard sent them over to her. His mech was a basic model, one of the kinds offered free to the players of Titan Forge. He had never felt the need to spend money on a digital version of a mech, even if the specs were much better. Besides, in ranked play purchasing such a mech only made sense once you reached gold and above. Leonards account still sat in silver, him not having played on it since he left for the Mech Corps Academy and then into active service.
"How..?" Summer was stunned as she saw that his mech wasn't special in any way, and was in fact a basic model. "It's worse than mine and yet it moved so fast.."
"Like I said, experience." While what he said wasn't technically true, in the same aspect it wasn't technically untrue. It was still his experience, just a different him from a different time and place.
"This is incredible though," he thought to himself. "If I get myself tested I'm sure I'll be close if not already an advanced pilot."
The ranking systems in place for pilots were fairly arbitrary in the beginning ranks, the differences between beginner and advanced pilots usually just amounting to the years of experience they had. That changed when it came to senior level pilots and above however, such pilots being able to influence their mechs to perform actions outside of what it normally should be able to.
"Rematch," Summer called out, pulling him back into the same war torn instance as before.
"Want to destroy your K/D that bad?" Leonard joked as he kicked his mech forward the moment the timer hit zero. This time however Summer was prepared, stepping back and retreating quickly while shooting at Leonard with her small side arm submachine gun.
Leonard simply raised his large shield in front of him, the small but numerous bullets bouncing off its surface like pellets. He charged her down like a bull, nothing she could do slowing his advance.
"This game is broken!" Summer yelled as she ran away from the knight mech that was growing ever closer. "How are you catching up to me!?"
The more Leonard piloted the mech the more he felt his mind connecting with it, even though it was a mere simulation. It started to become hard to tell where he ended and his mech began, the two merging into one.
"This is incredible," Leonard thought as he felt the wind rush through his perverbale hair. The rush of truly feeling like you were a ten metre tall armoured giant was exhilarating. It was already a rush piloting such a monster of engineering, however it was a more disconnected view like a spectator.
Summer's gun clicked empty and Leonard dropped his shield, the lessened weight giving him enough of a burst of speed to catch up to her before she could reload. She was caught completely off guard when his spear shot forth, crushing through her cockpit and ending the battle.
"This is actually bullshit," she immediately began complaining as they returned to the lobby.
"Ha, maybe we should try something else?" Leonard said, feeling a little bad after stomping his little sister. "Can you use a ranged mech? We could try some 2v2's."
"Yeah I have a rifle mech," she grumbled, still not happy about how their last two matches had turned out.
"Cool, I'll take the front then, just try your best to assist from the back." Leonard said as he pulled them into a public match, entering a queue for 2v2's.
The two of their mechs loaded into an urban setting, its lowrise buildings reduced to rubble. Leonard couldn't see their opponents, the various buildings in the way blocking his view.
"Be careful here, we're going to need to stay closer together. If they have light skirmishers they'll wrap around and ambush you before I can make it back."
"I know what im doing.." Summer muttered under her breath, still following after Leonard as the clock struck zero, the large frame of his mech obscuring most of the view ahead. "The streets are too narrow for me to get a good shot."
"I'll see what I can do," Leonard said as he kept his head on a swivel, watching all 360 degrees of his mech's outward sensors. He moved at a slower pace this time, not wanting to leave Summer behind in case she got jumped before he could respond. Her rifle mech wasn't built for melee combat, although it could still hold its own for a little while it wouldn't take long for her to get overwhelmed.
It didn't take much longer for Leonard to spot their foes, two heavy knights making their way in a straight line towards them.
"Contact front, two heavy knights." He relayed for Summer behind him. "See if you can't climb some rubble to get a higher position. I'll be able to hold them both in position, they won't be fast enough to get around me."
"On it," she responded, moving her mech into the rubbled remains of the buildings lining the narrow street.
The two knights didn't miss them either, slowly ramping up their mechs into a powerful frontal charge.
"Two on one huh?" Leonard could hardly hide his grin as the two mechs quickly closed the distance. "Guess this is only fair."
He returned the charge, quickly gaining speed as he rushed towards the much heavier mechs without fear. Inside the cockpits of the heavy knights the pilots were extremely confused with his actions.
"The hell is he doing?"
"No idea. Gotta be a noob or something. A free win I guess."
The two charged Leonard down with great confidence, a heavy knight as its name implied was much heavier than a standard knight. And with two of them the lone knight before them stood little chance in a straight collision.
Leonard knew this too, and so when they drew close he heaved his spear up and threw it forward, expertly threading it through a small gap between the two heavy knights shields. It pierced into the arm of one of the mechs, lodging itself deep within its inner components.
Although it was far from enough to bring it down, the spear lodged in the mech's arm slowed its charge, making it fall behind its partner. Leonard pounced through the gap in their formation, dogging to the side of the unharmed mech and charging down the slowed lone mech.
"Fuck!" The unharmed mech cursed as he struggled to slow his charge, its heavy weight working against him.
Leonard threw his shield forward at the damaged mech, its large form obscuring his movements as he weaved to the side, moving around to the rear of the heavy knight, drawing out a small dagger at his hip.
The heavy knight never noticed Leonard's movement, slamming into his shield only to find no one behind it.
"Where did he go?" He questioned, only to get his answer soon after. Leonard hacked the heavy knights back with his knife, the thin blade slipping between tiny chinks in its armour and tearing though the vulnerable internals. The mech turned to face him, however he turned with it, keeping his mech constantly positioned at its rear while keeping up his constant assault.
"You fucking rat!" The pilot screamed through its open speakers, instead of trying to turn it jumped backwards, trying to sandwich Leonard's mech between it and the buildings at their sides.
Leonard dodged to the side, reaching out and grabbing his spear as the heavy mech flew back, ripping it out. He slashed it at the mech's chest, however the thick armour merely shrugged it off, only a small scratch left behind. He could see the other heavy knight now turned around and charging back towards him.
"Running out of time here," Leonard tried to perce into the cockpit, however the armour was too strong for his spear, knocking aside any attempt he made. His foe pulled himself out of the rubble it had jumped into, lifting up its sword and charging towards him.
Leonard parried it to the side with the tip of his spear, stepping to the side and letting it pass by him harmlessly. He threw out his small dagger as he did, sending it up into the vulnerable armpit of the heavy mech.
Before he could think of what to do next, a powerful ballistic shot tore through the already chipped rear armour of the mech, Summer having gotten in a position to fire. The mech lurched forward at the sudden attack, letting Leonard circle around and pierce his spear through the small crack the ballistic bullet had made in its rear armour. With a gap formed his spear faced little resistance, crushing its way through into the enemy's cockpit, instantly killing the pilot inside.
"Nice shooting," he complimented his sister as he turned to their last foe.