Xiao was about to ask for an update when she spotted Puhi’s hornet lying on the ground. Both the bomber and beetle mechs were focused on Zander’s hornet, succeeding in keeping the mech at bay.

  “What happened, Vesna? There’s no way for Puhi to lose against a bomber at that range.”

  “Their bomber carried bolt on equipment that can deploy caltrops.”

  Caltrops?

  The young woman was aware of the area denial weapon but she also knew it was rarely used. Caltrops were generally only useful against light mechs due to the low armor on their legs. Regarding mechs that were medium weight class or heavier, mines were better options.

  “They must have unloaded a lot of caltrops if they downed Puhi.”

  “Puhi reported that the bomber had two bolts on equipment,” Vesna reported. “The caltrops were hastily deployed but they did their job of weakening the hornet legs. The beetle then took out one of the legs with its AC2. Puhi was cursing for a full minute afterwards.”

  “Where are the caltrops now?”

  Knowing better than running through a field of caltrops, Xiao got the location and circled around. This meant it took her longer to reach her foes but it was the price for avoiding unnecessary damage. Meanwhile, Vesna reported that Zander had done an incredible job dodging most of the incoming fire. Due to the caltrops and the incoming fire, he couldn't get close at all and, in a few instances, had to back away to avoid some of the incoming attacks.

  I should have cleared the caltrops now.

  “I’m going in,” she said, hoping that her approach would be ignored.

  When Vensa didn’t stop her, Xiao could confidently run in knowing that she avoided most of the caltrops. At this stage, she was nearby facing Zander as she approached the bomber. The young woman decided that the bomber was the better opponent to target as it no longer had any surprises. Unlike her ant mech, the bomber had to carry a lot of ammunition. The ammunition, combined with the bolt on equipment, had already taken a hefty toll on the mech’s legs. More could be forced but then damage was unavoidable. In addition, it was a big gamble to remove that much mobility in a mech, even in a bomber that generally didn't move much.

  As she approached the bomber, Xiao noticed something odd. Normally, a medium or long ranged mech would bombard a melee or close range mech to keep them at bay. Yet, her opponent wasn’t doing that. Instead, the bomber was content with simply standing there and facing her. Then, the bomber began running at her. Since this went against everything she was taught, Xiao immediately halted her advance.

  “Something is wrong, Vesna. Do you know why that bomber is charging at me?”

  “It might be a detonation tactic,” chipped in Ahote in the background. “That bomber wants to take down Xiao with it.”

  Putting together the clues she had seen so far, Xiao had to agree with the mechanic’s assessment. Currently, the two sides only had three mechs apiece. If her ant mech could get in close, then the backline would have a lot of trouble dealing with her. The bomber was going for a strategy that would eliminate her from the picture at the cost of itself, trusting the mantis and the beetle would secure the win. For the time being, Huxley was bogged down in a stalemate duel while Zander had made little progress with the beetle pinning him down. Even if she was out of the picture, the battle could still be close.

  “Any suggestions on how I can address this issue?” she asked.

  She was certain that, if she was in a room with no pressure, she could come up with some plan. Right now, she doesn't trust her brain to come up with a stellar plan on the spot.

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  “Go after the beetle,” shouted Ahote.

  That was all the clue Xiao needed to act. She waited until the bomber got relatively close before she activated her engine booster. The mech’s agility allowed it to easily circle around the bomber. Before long, the ant was charging towards the beetle while leaving the bomber in the dust. Xiao knew that, once she was in close range with the beetle, the bomber could no longer pose a threat. It couldn’t detonate as it would take out the beetle or, at the very least, weaken it severely. If the bomber did shift back to its medium ranged weapons, Xiao could maneuver her mech so the beetle could shield her from the incoming missiles.

  Not willing to take risks, Xiao zigzagged her mech to avoid possible incoming missiles. It didn’t take long before the beetle turned its attention to her. Unlike the last time she faced an AC2, she was better prepared this time. She just had to focus on the ballistic weapon’s trajectory and, the moment she saw the recoil, she immediately sidestepped to get out of the firing arc. She had mastered it during simulation so she avoided the first incoming AC2 round easily. After she dodged three other rounds, she had closed in on the beetle.

  Wait…is that a bolt on equipment too?

  Xiao immediately drew her dagger and pushed her jump jets into full gear. The sudden acceleration threw her off initially but she quickly got the hang of it. Then, she aimed her dagger so it would go straight into the beetle’s head. The dagger, with her mech shoving it in with its momentum, went cleanly through the opposing mech’s head. However, much of the ant mech still collided with the beetle, causing the two mechs to tumble onto the ground.

  Good thing the beetle stopped my mech.

  Xiao could see the caltrops as her ant mech stood up. If her mech went any further, it would enter the caltrop field, thus making her vulnerable regardless of what decision she made. The young woman’s mech got up just in time to see the bomber had closed the distance. Seconds later, it detonated and sent the ant mech flying. Xiao felt like a ragdoll as she was thrown around in the mech. If it weren’t for her seatbelts, she doubted she would come out of this alive.

  “Xiao! Xiao! Are you okay?”

  “I think I’m fine,” responded Xiao after she recovered her wits. She did a quick check for cuts or bruises and, upon confirming her mech was no longer operational, relaxed in her seat. “My ant mech is done for the day. I’ll need assistance later to make it to the mechbay.”

  “Glad you’re fine! The explosion looked really bad on screen.”

  “How is Zander? He wasn’t caught in the blast, right?”

  Upon hearing Vesna’s confirmation that Zander’s hornet was fine, Xiao let out the breath she was holding. She made herself comfortable in her seat and took out her phone.

  The blast couldn’t be that bad, right?

  She went to the streaming site where someone already clipped the explosion. She watched the clip, realizing why Vesna was so worried. The clip began just two seconds before the bomber detonated. There was likely only a few meters separating the two mechs so that explained why she felt like a ragdoll being thrown around. On screen, it looked horrific since the explosion engulfed her mech. Luckily, her mech had most of its armor intact prior to the explosion so most of the damage was absorbed.

  “How are the beetle and bomber pilots doing?” she asked out of concern for her fellow pilots.

  “Last I heard, they are fine and don’t need immediate medical evac. As for the match, Huxley just took out the mantis’ right torso. It should be over soon.”

  It took the two of them to take down one foe. I took down three and they thought I was deadweight.

  Xiao then looked at her screen, focusing on the bolt on equipment on her ant. Since she didn’t use it, it could serve as a secret weapon for her next match if the situation arose. She then wondered if she could retrieve the dagger. The dagger wasn’t actually anything special but it was her first dagger and had two kills to its name. She wanted to believe the dagger brought her good luck.

  “Vesna, can my dagger be retrieved too? Even if it’s unusable, I’d like to keep it as a memento.”

  “I’ll see if we can retrieve it.”

  The young woman could hear Vesna walking off to shout some orders, likely to the two mechanics. She closed her eyes and could see them gather help to retrieve the mech as soon as the match ended. This was the first time Wattan was absent so she could imagine how chaotic things were. The head mechanic knew he couldn’t handle everything all the time so this was a good chance for them to learn their trade. As for her, she checked her phone again, confirming that the match had officially ended. The announcers were doing the post-match commentary but the young woman wasn’t really interested.

  “I’m taking a nap,” she said into her microphone before closing her eyes.