The pilot suit was not comfortable at all. It was loose in the chest and hips but much too tight in the waist. The crotch of the suit was particularly bad and Elijah again considered just taking his dagger and tearing the suit open. At least the helmet fit well.

“I’m sorry Elijah.” Elizabeth once more apologized over the comms. “Your choice in Vain Glory means that the pilot suit needed to be a specialized one. Otherwise I’d have suggested borrowing one of Yukio’s pilot suits.”

“It’s fine, the sizing would have been even worse. Not like I’m gonna be expected to run a marathon in it.” Elijah replied.

“Your choice in Vain Glory is interesting, are you familiar with that particular design?” Elizabeth asked.

“Not in the slightest, But it’s not like a stock Great Machine is going to cut it here. The Motion Intelligence units are right out too. Could you imagine having the balls to pick a fight with Yukiko Arai in a unit that purposefully weakens it’s own shields?” Elijah said with a brief chuckle.

“What about the Usagi, Skvader, or Jackalope?”

“They looked pretty decent but flimsy. No offense.” Elijah paused as he realized the significance behind the names. “Oh, that’s really clever. Great names.”

“Thank you. We’re rather proud of them at Small Steps.” Elizabeth said with a clear smile in her voice.

“I’d love to get a closer look at them after the test.”

“We’ll see. Are you all set? Load out picked, ready to get acclimated?”

“Yes ma’am, as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Alright Elijah, Good luck. When the light above doors turns green you’re free to exit to the arena for your practice flight.”

“Thank you.” He replied as he double checked his harness and helmet. Elijah flexed his power as the large double doors across from his VG opened and released him from the berth.

[hello world...]

======================

Lydia Lazzaro was having a hard time keeping her composure. She understood why security was so tight regarding Elijah’s various test scores but ripping the data from her in such an abrupt and frankly brutal manner was uncalled for. Something about the way it was done sent a raging fire through her phantom limbs that was getting hard to ignore. She decided to bite the bullet and manually reset her prosthetics one at a time. She took a cautious glance around to see what everyone else was preoccupied with.

Elizabeth was busy on the phone with someone, either Gloria or Yukiko most likely. Probably trying to get Yukiko to back down and not interfere in the test Lydia thought. It was largely a waste of time. Yukiko Arai would do whatever she wanted and in that regard she was a perfect match with her wife.

Bianca was watching the field intently, probably worried for her son’s safety. She had just had a very brief one sided conversation, probably to one of her cute daughters to let them know that Elijah’s mock battle would start soon.

The Tall woman with long black hair and thick gloves looked positively bored with the lack of action so far. A bodyguard of some sort? Lydia wondered. Probably not all that important in the long run.

Lydia was probably more distracted by the pain than she realized as she finally noticed that the last present member of the Winter party had shifted seats so that she was next to her.

“You too?” Nadia asked without preamble as she lifted her hand to show to Lydia as it spun around her wrist a few times to recalibrate.

“Yeah, I was just about to reset my arms one at a time.” Lydia said as she began shrugging off her jacket to gain access to more of her prosthetic.

“Very nice work if you don’t mind my saying. Custom job I assume?”

“One hundred percent. You?”

“Bit of a kitbash if I’m being honest. Mine started life out as Prime Cuts Medical’s Advanced Surgical Set. I’ve swapped some of the options out with a few tools from Anansi Armaments. At least for my everyday carry.” Nadia said.

“Interesting choice, Anansi aren’t exactly known for their non Vain Glory work.”

Nadia Hummed noncommittally, “would you like some help?”

“I’d love some, could you just follow what I do to my left arm then do it to my right? Should save quite a bit of time.”

As Lydia sat there waiting for her arms to reassert themselves her phone began to ring with a distinct tone.

“Shit, that’s my pupil. Would you mind answering and propping my phone to my face?”

“Not at all.” Nadia said with a smile. “Do all students here have such a close relationship with their instructors?”

“Only the smart ones. Or the ones who’re lucky enough to catch the eye of a teacher offering mentorship.” Lydia explained

As she listened to the voice on the other end of the line her expression grew flat.

“I understand. I’m at the test arena, get here. Now.”

Nadia knew that expression and tone, it seemed that whoever was on the other end of the line would had some explaining to do once they arrived.

======================

As Elijah took the time to acclimate himself to the new unit he couldn’t help but compare it to his Great Machine. First contact with it had been shocking but in all his subsequent interactions it had been eager to please like a large dog at the end of a chain, just waiting for any bit of slack so that it could lunge forwards to whatever goal Elijah pointed it at. This unit in comparison had no such defining characteristics, had he not been sitting in the cockpit actively connected to it there was no way he would have guessed that his power was interacting with a Vain Glory.

As he flew lazy circles around the training arena he found a spot to make his stand and headed towards it. If the information he was given panned out his being on solid ground would limit the sequence of attacks that could come at him. He landed and took stock of the weapons he had decided on. A set of six odd drones labeled Aural mines, and both shoulder and hip mounted lasers that apparently couldn’t be kept out while using the unit’s signature ability.

He took a moment to practice deploying and moving the mines, then summoning and banishing the lasers until he felt confident that he could do it under pressure. He decided to mount four of the mines to his back for quick deployment and the other two to his left shoulder. If the videos Lydia gave him were correct maybe he could catch Yukiko off guard. Soon he decided that enough was enough and not at all feeling any more confident then when he had first gotten into the Vain Glory he pinged Elizabeth to let her know he was ready.

======================

The maglev train had arrived swiftly and Sunny, Lumi, Evona, and Saif piled in and sat together in a group before the train got moving again.

“So who do you think Elijah is gonna crush? Maybe that Cross lady?” Sunny asked as she bounced up and down in her seat.

“I have no clue which teacher I faced for the entrance test. I doubt Elijah will know either. I hope he has the good sense to pick something other than the Great Machine.” Lumi replied.

“What did you end up choosing?” Evona asked her.

“I picked up an odd unit called a Skvader. It had the closest build to my Frozen Apollo.”

“Oh, I saw that as well. Is it some sort of custom unit? I haven’t seen one in any catalogs or for offer on Social-Cannon since arriving here.” Evona said.

“You wouldn’t.” a calm quiet voice interjected. “They’re Lunar exclusives, the colonies strictly control how many are active at a time and who gets to pilot them. Resale outside of proper channels is forbidden.”

The group turned to see who had joined their conversation and found two young women sitting across the aisle from them. The one who had spoken was small, sitting as she was she looked to be the same height as Saif. Her black tracksuit was rather baggy and her medium length hair was dark enough to almost blend in with it perfectly. Her eyes were an unnaturally vibrant blue, or at least the one that was not bruised and swollen was.

The other girl sat with an amused smirk on her face. Her blonde hair was long and loosely scattered around her shoulders. Her charcoal jacket matched the skirt that came below her knees which were primly crossed at the ankle.

Upon registering who they were Evona’s eyes lit up and she lunged forward to embrace the one who spoke.

“Chloe!” She shouted.

“Yes.” Chloe replied, not bothering to react to the hug at all.

As one, Lumi and Sunny looked at each other then looked at Saif. The attitude was uncanny, did Evona have a type?

“Because I am all too well aware of how my friends behave I suppose it falls to me to make the introductions. I am Holly Grace Felgate and my entangled and occupied friend here is Chloe Dubois.” She said with a smile. “I know Evona and Saif, but you lovely ladies are?”

“Lumi Winter.”

“Sunny Winter. I feel like I’m supposed to say charmed.”

“Well it’s lovely to meet you both. Are you new to the Academy?” Holly asked.

“Graduated with prejudice.” Lumi replied.

“Fresh off the jet. I haven’t seen the dorms yet but the hanger is bonkers.” Sunny said.

“Oh, so you did well with your entrance then? Private hangers are a highly sought privilege after all. Then again with a graduated sister I suppose it’s no surprise.” Holly said.

“Oh not even a little bit. I’m a mechanical maestro, gonna create a weapon to surpass Vain Glory but I’ve settled on maintenance for now” Sunny beamed.

“What the hell happened to your eye!” Evona shouted, cutting off the side conversation between the other girls.

“I ran into a door knob.” Chloe said.

“I don’t believe you.” Evona replied.

“I have a new job, rule 3 of the new job is to be nice so I nicely headbutted a bozo who should have been cut off three drinks ago.”

“No.”

“Had a fight. You should see the other guys.”

“Fine, keep your secrets.” Evona pouted before turning to Holly. “Hello Holly.”

“Welcome back Evona. Where are you all headed if you don’t mind my asking.”

“To the training arena, a good friend is taking their exam today. What about the two of you?”

“Oh, what a coincidence. Chloe and I were meeting our mentor there.”

“Oh that’s just lovely. We should all sit together to watch the match.” Evona said.

“I can do nothing to stop you.” Both Saif and Chloe said, then turned to stare at each other.

======================

The moment of truth had arrived, across from Elijah a Vain Glory made it’s way through a set of doors that had opened slowly. Asherah was gorgeous, gleaming silver and white, it had six blades attached to its waist, blades extended from each forearm, and behind it what he could only describe as a halo that glowed a bright blue and continued to get brighter and brighter. Once the halo became almost too bright to look at new lights flared in different colors like eyes across it’s shoulders, hips, head, and chest. Before Elijah could even react Asherah had vanished.

The Llorona was specialized in pilot disabling engagements and on paper was leagues beyond anything his Great Machine could output but the main reason he had chosen it over any of the other units on offer was the fact that compared to the other Vain Glories this one was relatively new and hopefully not something that Asherah had much experience dealing with.

The Advice had absolutely paid off, much to Elijah’s shock. Maybe it was the light that gave her away, or his hyperfocus on his left but in an instant he felt Asherah there. Just like all the footage indicated she would be. He forced his power into Llorona and the Aural Mines attached to his shoulder activated. In an instant Llorona screamed and the ground beneath it trembled.