Veig was particularly proud of his hearing. It's why no one bothered him when he slept through meetings— somehow, he always woke with everything already stored.
He wasn't sure why his ears worked like a bat's. Maybe all the smoking relieved the pressure behind his ears, though every doctor he'd ever met would argue the opposite.
Maybe it was the hours spent smoking in silence, listening out for footsteps that never came.
Either way, he swore it was the smoking. Said it sharpened things. Sound. Smell. Awareness.
Nobody ever bothered correcting him.
The bullet thundered through the village, tearing divots through air and sand.
Its whistle barely lasted a second.
Hold-Fast dove, but not fast enough— the round cracked its shoulder, metal shards bursting outward on impact.
Riko snapped back to the main screen. The feed lagged behind the desktop monitors.
He needed to see it again.
He dodged that?
How good are those guys' ears?
"Nice," Rune said. "Shot came from north-west. Half a mile out."
"Right arm functions compromised," Lumi added. "Avoid push motions on that side."
Veig was already moving.
He dashed between buildings, never staying long enough to be measured, let alone targeted. Each step sent tremors through the brittle structures— wall crumbling, roofs shedding dust— as he closed in on the sniper.
Suddenly two more rounds roared— but they weren't fired towards Veig. Adding to the confusion, two bullets also came from opposite directions.
"What?" Rune muttered. " First round came from the south and the second from the north-east."
[Veig] Must be some weird device.
Lumi's face intensified, leaning forward, eyes narrowing.
"That's has to be against the rules."
"Status only Lumi." Rune snapped.
[Veig] Status only Lumi.
She audibly sighed, causing a sharp rush air to cut through the comms.
Riko glanced at her screen. Several monitors tracked the mech integrity and damage readouts, but Lumi wasn't looking at any of them. She was locked into the radar— heat signatures bloomed across the arena.
Why would even let a princess like her represent them in this competition?
She clearly has no experience—
Then Riko noticed.
Twenty heat signatures, all marking Distant-Death.
Lumi scrolled leaving her indicator on one.
Then she counted.
Then scrolled leaving her indicator on another.
Counted again.
"One… two…three…" She whispered out loud.
Vieg continued his pursuit, ducking and diving towards the location the first bullet had come from, never staying long enough to invite a second shot.
[Veig] Please, Lumi status only. I'm trying to listen.
"The heat signature… 11 O'clock. It's blinking in eleven second intervals, the rest only six."
[Veig] is that so.
You could almost hear his smile through the comms.
Immediately, Veig drove Hold-Fast straight toward the marker Lumi had indicated. No ducking. No weaving. He charged head on.
Then another shot rang out.
The sound was wrong— too sharp to be carried by the radio. Instead, the comms filled with static.
The bullet tore through Hold-Fast's leg.
Not punched. Not pierced.
It eviscerated it— the metal converting into millions of fragments, each no longer than a grain of sand, dispersing outward in a violent cloud.
"Shit!" Rune shouted. "It's coming from the west!"
Veig dropped Hold-Fast onto its back, deliberately opening his guard. The mech's arms spread slightly, posture loose— almost inviting.
[Vieg] Hah… what're the chances they wanna fight the old fashioned way?
Riko paused in thought.
Oh right.
The dsync757.
The weapon rumoured to still be in development— capable of generating false heat signatures. It fired beacon rounds that bloomed across enemy radars, allowing shooter to disappear in the noise.
Riko glanced towards Lumi.
He didn't lean in, but he could see her reflection in the darkened glass of one of her monitors.
Her eyes wide; too wide, as if someone was pulling her eyelids away from each other. The whites stark. Blood traced slowly from the corner of her lip.
Her analysis wasn't wrong.
The pilot must have stacked two beacons at just the right offset… Overlapping their cycles by a single second. Eleven second intervals, born from six seconds. Whilst the pilot continued to move around the arena.
Perfectly lapped.
[Vieg] I'm sorry for not saying anything back then.
It's intimidating… having a young, intelligent woman like yourself looking for answers from a man like me.
A pause. The faint cracking,
[Vieg] I spent most of my life just focusing on breathing. Never really gave myself a chance to—
Enjoy the air.
Listen, Lumi. Rune.
Even you Rexton.
Maturing isn't about changing.
It's about growing.
Accepting.
And challenging.
Distant-Death advanced slowly, dragging the tip of its massive sniper rifle through the sand.
It loomed over Hold-Fast.
Veig exhaled.
For the first time in years, he didn't think about the next one.
The comms went silent.