NOVEL NEXT Chapter 94: Over the Wall
The next day, the crew met in the morning in the breakroom, as usual, with Inkblot informing them that Augur had seen some of their training already, and was set to meet up after lunch and observe live.
However, before they even got into their first training match, a notice hit them from the System, identified as being sent to 'Team High Life' as a whole.
<Congratulations, Team High Life! You have been assigned your first match of the Powers Applied Coordination Courses, aka, the PACCs. This match will begin at 1800 sharp inside the combined Simulation Chambers 04 and 05. Please be ready with your team to enter 04 at 1757, or 3 minutes before the start time. Please vacate Chamber 04 by 1715 to allow for chamber integrations. Both chambers will be inaccessible between 1715 and 1757, with any interference or deviation considered grave insubordination.
It's advisable to practice light leading up to the match and enter at 100% efficiency.
The match is blind, and you will receive no intel on your opponents, nor does either group know the other well. Do not seek intel on your opponents, or the match may be canceled and a black mark assessed for any found responsible. It's advisable to sequester yourself and not make contact with any unnecessary people. Breaches outside your team are considered broken clearance as if for an upcoming Black Ops operation, and will be punished. Exceptions must be authorized.
The teams are considered well-matched. The match type will be an 'Over the Wall' duel. No information will be obtainable before the start time. The terrain is otherwise blind.
Good luck, and May Humanity Prevail!>
"Already?!" Highfive exclaimed, seemingly panicked. "Oh man, oh man, oh man… we just got two new guys, how could they do this to us so early?!"
Rather than mock him, as expected and usual, Bo was dead silent and still where she stood, as if frozen in ice, clearly staring at the text in her head and dead to the world. But her fists were clenching hard.
Inkblot, mostly quite calm, frowned and brought a hand up to rub his forehead. "How to handle Augur with this…"
Well, I'm loose, at least. Time for some fast-acting leadership grease.
Jack first went to Highfive to pat his shoulder supportively. "Don't worry, my man. We got this! So does whoever set this up. My guess is, they had the perfect storm of two budding teams. All the hush-hush black ops shit is no different than what we might face for a real scenario sometimes. Hypothetically, at least. Regardless, all we have to do is what we've been doing, just stepping up a notch. The other team will be the mistake-makers. We'll move like a fluid and adapt. Alright?"
Highfive glanced at him and swallowed, slowly nodding. Finally, he grew a determined look. "Yeah. Yeah! Damn right. We got this." He turned to Jack and put his hand out for an arm-wrestling-style shake. "Let's get our first win out of the way in record time. Right, Big Iron!?"
Jack took the hand in a firm grip, meeting Highfive's eyes unblinkingly and nodding confidently. "Hell yeah, you're right." Jack clapped his arm one last time before turning around.
Bo had half turned to them, but her eyes were still staring inside her head, hands clenched. When Jack took his first step toward her, her head flicked and her eyes flashed his way. "Pass me over and spare me the pep talk, Jack." Her eyes stuttered and flickered back away, but he saw her visibly swallow.
Jack displayed his hands in surrender and began walking past, as if toward Inkblot, but as he passed by, he paused and partially moved his head, face quizzical, as he asked, "Think the terrain will be clear up to the wall? We did one of these last morning, and it was forest with them all chopped closer to the walls."
Bo sniffed. "It always is clear and level at the base, whatever exists further beyond. Some defensive teams want to rush to it, defend it, and then they can see the other team approach."
"So… that match saw an offensive team bum-rush us, surprising our expectations. Practically ambushed us. But your last-second warning helped out."
Her eyes were flickering around more. "Yeah. Power-use. They waited, but had to flare up eventually. Preferably, someone uses powers long before the wall. But. Hmm. They knew to do so…"
"Exactly! What are the odds they won't use their powers if they don't expect you? You're going to ambush any team in a blind scenario like this."
"Unless they stealth somehow. But doing the whole team with it is pretty rare."
Jack turned fully toward her, now in a 'conspiring' sort of mode, closer to her. "We'll have to create contingencies. If/and/or scenarios. If we have intel advantages right after start time, we can pivot as needed."
Bo met his eyes and nodded. "It's only logical. What we usually do." Tension had drained from her shoulders. "Less expectation, but so far we've pivoted well when we had to."
"Agreed. What are the odds of flyers?"
"Low. They aren't always fair, but usually, the wall isn't there unless it's an impediment to the team."
"Even less chance considering the notice mentioned 'well-matched,' as well."
"We don't know what that means, though. Do they mean levels? Some nebulous final heuristic equation? That would be pretty meaningless once the match sta-" She paused quite suddenly and blinked, then crossed her arms and glowered at him. "You're keeping me talking. Distracting me."
"I am? I thought we were just strategizing like always."
"Don't act like you don't know exactly what you're doing, Jack. By now, I know better. I know you."
"Okay. What would you say I'm distracting you from?"
"Stress." She fidgeted slightly. "The match and…" She trailed off.
Jack shrugged. "Do you find that useful, that you need to hang onto it?"
She glared at him — exceptionally weakly for her usual intensity — and then looked away and sighed. "It's not going to just disappear via mind magic. It's not that simple." Her eyes flickered briefly over to Highfive, who was hopping up off to the side, rolling his neck, shadowboxing, and the like. "I'm not that simple."
"I understand that, trust me. You know, Bo, you're both going through similar things, even if you're very different. It's a form of trauma. You poured your heart and soul into something, and it didn't turn out like you imagined. Like you hoped. Now the rubber meets the road again, on a similar path and way, way sooner than you imagined. It's a shock. It's okay to be shocked. I'm just letting you know you aren't alone on that path, not by a long shot. We're here as a team, and it's a damn good team."
Jack shrugged as if forced to admit something. "And yeah, I'll go out on a limb right now and say it's a sight better than your old one. Call me crazy, arrogant, or ignorant if you want, but there you go. We're synergizing, and we're not even done getting better yet. This is either a bump up to a higher level or it's just a damn bump, because it won't stop our progress down the road. But besides that, Bo, you do have a shoulder to lean on. Many shoulders. You aren't alone, or isolated, or small. You're a terror inside an operating cell that's about to be unleashed. The other teams are going to be the ones stressing out with fear, soon, because when we keep them from getting to you, they're frag-out boned. Believe that."
Bo began the little speech with her eyes flickering around, but soon she was staring at him unblinkingly, obviously getting a nerve struck within her. He'd worn her armor down over time, and here he'd possibly hit home at the most vulnerable point. The most important point, too. All that confidence built up in training couldn't be allowed to get shaken apart right before the true paydirt. He needed to stab doubt right in the gut. At the least, he'd given it a good slice.
And the truth is, we need this damn win to kill it completely.
"He's right, you know." Highfive. They both turned to him to see him eye them both as if he'd been caught eavesdropping. But he simply grinned and made a 'horns' sign with his hand. "Killer ass speech, bro!"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Jack laughed; Bo just huffed and shook her head. Eventually, her eyes met Jack's. She shrugged self-consciously. "Alright. Maybe I believe it. Anyway… don't expect me to say 'thanks' or something idiotic like that."
Jack flashed his hands dismissively. "I'd never dream of it, Bo."
"Because it isn't marketable."
"Definitely not."
"So," Inkblot said suddenly, with the energy of someone who had not been paying attention to any grand speeches, lost in his own thoughts, and simply speaking into an opportune lull. "I think we'd best just surprise Augur with the actual match once he's here. Less risk that way."
Highfive huffed in amusement and shook his head, while Bo made a face and rolled her eyes upward, as Jack wince-grinned while rubbing the back of his neck.
Inkblot studied everyone in faint confusion. "What?"
🌑 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌕
They kept practice light, such as by layering more simulated physical protection, ending any match when Bo got 'close' to Fatigue Status Serious, and not pushing challenge levels. They did almost exclusively Over the Wall duel matches to drill the scenario into their brains and instincts.
The wall was nine meters tall and apparently made of stone, but a telltale 'glow' was the first indication of that falsehood. The biggest tell was that the wall was virtually indestructible, making it clear that it was sheathed in a telekinetic power effect to the limits of the chamber. The wall extended below as well. Essentially, there was only one way past it for cadet power levels, and that was over it.
Its height made it complicated for some types to get over. Thankfully, Jack could levitate people over with a frame or platform, even everyone at once, though the latter was slow, especially with Highfive's big ass. They practiced this a bit. With all the gear added to body weight, Jack definitely 'felt' the strain when trying it out, probably an impossible task without the additional boost of work from Anchors. Ballpark, he assessed the total was around 450 kilos to lift. It wasn't particularly great to bunch everyone up in a small area, so the general preference was not to do it in combat situations. By putting people in multiple separate frames and lifting them individually, it was slightly faster when he got the hang of it. Especially when he bundled the work of lifting the tiny Bo with the lightly-burdened Inkblot.
The matches were blind, which… was just as nasty as they imagined with Bo ambushing people with her sudden disruptions. She disrupted a flyer once — it wasn't pretty.
After screwing around with various attempts to take the wall, they found the best bet was to leave it, especially if the enemy charged it. Bo was generally good at detecting anything less than a very plain, low-tech approach to the wall. If anyone used overt powers, she could detect it and determine a heading and assessment of magnitude and speed while the power was used. Sadly, she couldn't pinpoint or determine the range, though movement over time could give an idea. She was mitigated by the wall, but by no means blocked.
If they could get Inkblot on the wall fast with a frame-lift from Jack, the others could wait. A bunch of metal at the top, and Jack could cause havoc from range, especially from a sphere-based core network. Bo would drop a Sandy, and Inkblot struck at some point in the confusion. Ideally, the slightly panicked enemy pivoted and came down the wall for Jack, and then had to deal with Highfive's interception, while Inkblot picked off an inevitable straggler on the wall with their support divided.
It made the wall into a kind of trap, and it was deeply cheesy. Cheesy but effective.
Taking the wall entirely was way riskier — if they did it fast enough, Jack could reinforce with metal and create a long-distance match, Jack and Bo hiding under cover with Jack trying to get Highfive and Inkblot down without interference. Not too difficult with Highfive, but problematic for Inkblot. Jack eventually got it down, though: creating distractions originating further down one side of the wall, having Highfive down, and Inkblot on the far opposite side. When Jack switched control to his frame and quickly dropped him down, it was usually smoothly unnoticed in time. Once Jack pulled the frame away, Inkblot disappeared on the enemy side.
They did a lot of pausing to discuss and then following up to experiment, with mixed success. One harebrained idea of Highfive's was to send him entirely over on the enemy side first thing, to distract and tank while the others moved to the wall. This was quickly abandoned and subsequently banned from consideration when Highfive predictably got creamed very quickly from a four-on-one attack without much support, though he claimed it was 'bad luck' from a hyper-offensive team.
He seemed happy, despite it all. He just wanted to fulfill a 4-on-1 dream.
After an extended lunch-and-rest period, Augur joined them in the afternoon leading to the eventual match. He came toting a backpack full of homework and supplies, immediately and excitedly jumping right into strategic considerations and breaking down their strengths and weaknesses. Mostly what they already knew, but at least it was some confirmation from an outside, neutral perspective.
Inevitably, they had to drop the bomb of an actual match, which actually annoyed and frustrated Augur due to the match being blind, robbing him of the potential to utilize his predictive, simulative powers. He went immediately into the teams which it 'could be,' and they yelled at him to shut up, not wanting to risk the match getting canceled. Inkblot and Jack both gave him firm orders not to talk about or even insinuate based on his suspicions. Maybe it was overboard, but his 'guesses' could be rather damning.
Jack did personally check with Mini about whether Augur was considered fair game to utilize going forward, despite the perspective that Inkblot had shared.
Mini chimed in response. "It's assessed as perfectly fine. An agent utilizes whatever resources he has at his disposal, especially out in the field. Many teams have, quote, 'unfair advisors.' They are not actually unfair. All are the result of leveraged resources. Even nepotism is a lever, so long as the judges are not influenced. Certainly, psyche outs, intimidation, and other social engineering plots are expected."
Jack frowned. "You're framing my friendship with Augur as a social engineering plot?"
"And you're framing it as a friendship. Either way, it's a leveraged resource. In any case, everything an agent does and every resource they utilize is part of their assessment. This should not be construed as meaning there are exclusively right/wrong utilizations. Central Processing aims to make use of every Allotted soul, placing them where they can best be — as an asset, a resource, if you will — utilized themselves."
"So the PACCs are a glorified personality test?"
"Hardly, Jack. But if that's how you want to frame it…"
Jack 'tsked' and sighed. He almost rolled his eyes, too. Bo and her bad habits. Wasn't it bad enough they were rubbing off on Ira?
Well, whatever. I guess I have my answer/non-answer laced with wishy-washy rhetoric, as I should've expected.
At some point early into their continuing practice, they took a quick break. Augur was running back through their most recent matches, standing in front of the big wall of multiple screens, with Ira watching with him, both their arms crossed behind their backs.
After they sat down and had drinks and snacks, Augur said, "The biggest problem I'll note is that all of these matches you had are probably exactly what the other team had, coming to note the same things through repetition and tactical evolution."
Highfive, just draining a cup of water, standing near the refreshment section as usual, frowned over at the little jet-skinned imp. "Why is it a problem, exactly?"
"Because there's high odds both teams sit and wait for the other to reach the wall, so they can unleash the best laid schemes of mice and men at that moment."
Highfive's face screwed up even more. "Uhhh, mice?"
"It's a saying, Fiver," Bo said wearily. "You know the similar military one, at least — I hope. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy?"
"Oh. Oh yeah, that one I know."
"Yes," Augur said, raising his chin and squinting his eyes thoughtfully. The young man was in his element, here, a brain saturated, nigh drowned in military history, and seemingly bottomless in retaining it. "That's the issue with all strategy, driving us to desire the most immediate and overwhelming destruction of the enemy. Utilizing air superiority, for example. Cruise missiles, bombers, bunker busters. Copious preliminary intel. But, lacking that potential, knowing you have an active, aware, capable enemy, what must we do?" He turned around, raising an eyebrow, putting on his 'instructor' routine.
It was spoiled slightly by a belch brought on from too much snacking, a covering fist barely making it to his mouth.
Inkblot cleared his throat loudly.
Augur's eyes flashed over to Inkblot and widened before he regained his composure and murmured politely, "Excuse me," while returning his hands behind him.
Inblot nodded approvingly.
So did Ira.
With no one else speaking up, Jack offered, "I'd say it becomes a chess match. Guessing what your opponent would do, and hoping they don't guess what you will do, or perhaps guess what you think they would do."
Augur nodded to Jack. "That's pretty good! We want to outguess them and set some sort of trap or partial ambush. And we want to be prepared for various likely things they would do." He developed a sour, sullen expression. "Rather difficult when we know nothing of their capabilities due to the complete bullshit of a blind match. But we at least have the expectation of further intelligence capabilities before they do, through Bo. It could be wrong, as they might have something to hide, jam, or provide their own long-range intel, but it's a good bet. And that intel might say the other team is poised to wait. Then what?"
Jack frowned. The sims came for the wall when they waited, even if they'd beaten teams to the punch on occasion. A defensive team would take the wall to defend it, and an offensive team would try to cross it quickly.
"What happens if two teams just wait forever and don't fight?" Jack asked, mostly out of curiosity.
"Bad news for matches without a set defender," Highfive said, shaking his head. "Never seen it, but I've heard of teams letting time run out, and waiting an hour, two hours, four hours. No set time, you know? Supposedly, they're just dismissed without anything definitive said about the match. No draw, no nothing. Utter silence from leadership."
Jack winced. "Yeah, that sounds like bad news, alright. 'We're not angry, just disappointed' energy." After taking a breath, Jack said, "I say we go hard for the wall by default, pivoting only if we see they'll beat us with superior mobility or the like, at which point we fall back into a bait and counter strategy."
Everyone looked at Jack as if trying to tell whether he was joking or not. He smiled and waggled his eyebrows in a way that egged on this uncertainty.