Chloe stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was limp and only one of her unnaturally bright blue eyes stared back at her. The other was swollen shut from the shiner that threatened to take up half her face. She let the faucet run as she leaned forward to get a mouthful of water to rinse her mouth out with. She swirled it around a bit before spitting into the sink and examining it. No teeth, and only a bit of blood. That was good. Regrowing teeth was painful and dental implants could interfere with her ability to pilot.

When Chloe first arrived at the Academy she thought that her life was set to become an easy one. Her mother was a fairly renowned pilot from the first generation of successful pilots and had left her Vain Glory Joyeux to her upon her death. She had imagined that she would join the Academy then graduate and Join either a corporation as a token mascot or perhaps take a few years as an arena fighter. All she would need to do was coast forward and her future would be all but guaranteed.

Unfortunately for Chloe she had the gall to be talented. Her entrance exam placed her in the top hundred and firmly put a target on her back. At first her skill and ranking were attributed to her Joyeux of course someone with a legacy unit like hers would hold an advantage. That notion was quickly disabused when they realized what Joyeux was equipped with and built for. The only things she had ever brought into a duel were a pair of head mounted vulcan cannons and a rocket lance.

Her unit was built for one purpose, speed. When asked later why she had never upgraded her arsenal she revealed that unlike other first generation units that were still active hers was the same as the day it was built, never once having been retrofitted to modernize it’s arsenal. That’s not to say that she didn’t have access to more varied means of assault but her mother always told her that a smart girl should keep a few secrets.

Once her “peers” realized that their criticisms of her Vain Glory were useless they moved on to more personal attacks. They criticized the slow and deliberate way she spoke. They took issue with her need to be quick and efficient in her tasks. They called her a lifeless doll and asked if her unit was named ironically. Chloe hardly paid any of it any attention.

So of course the attacks began to trend more physical. She tried to ignore the subtle shoves and bumps. The uninspired messages scrawled across her locker, but this only emboldened them further. Until one day after class she was confronted by a particularly vicious and stupid girl whose name she never bothered to commit to memory. At first she was surprised that any of her tormentors would have the spirit to attack her so openly but she quickly noticed that the hallway she was in was suddenly empty.

She lamented the fact that she wasn’t on her way to or from a practice session. If that had been the case she’d at least be armed. She looked to the rather large girl and hoped her face didn’t show the dismay she felt.

“They said that if I uh, adjusted your attitude there’d be a nice payday in it for me.” The girl sneered. As much as Chloe tried to rack her brain for the girls name she just couldn’t remember it. The only reason she even recognized her was because she’d on occasion had the misfortune of seeing her in a pilot suit and wondering if they charged extra to cover someone so fat.

“How tragic.” Chloe said as she continued to walk by. “Maybe if you spent more time training you’d have a better stipend.”

She had assumed that a confrontation of this nature would have more witty banter or some clear starting signal. The pain that blossomed from her jaw disabused her of the notion as she dropped to the floor. Chloe was able to prop herself up just in time to see her assailant’s foot swing out and miss the spot her head was just occupying. She blinked stupidly at it for a moment before forcing herself to stand.

“Whuu, phf uhck joo.” Chloe tried to speak through a mouthful of blood. A quick disoriented glance showed the hall still empty and she looked up and saw the girl charge her, fist reared back. Having never been in a proper fight in her life Chloe did the first thing that came to mind. She turned her head up and spit a wad of bloody phlegm and teeth into the girls eyes, then quickly sidestepped.

The stupid girl’s scream of surprise as she slammed herself into the wall was gratifying and emboldened Chloe to throw a poorly formed fist at the side of the girls head. Unfortunately she did not have the experience to keep her thumb on the outside of her closed fist and the hit promptly made her recoil in pain. It was at this moment either through design or luck that brought Lydia Lazzaro into the hallway they had been fighting in.

While the fight was stopped the aggressor supposedly could not be determined. So the Academy did what it always did to settle a dispute and held a duel. Chloe of course easily dismantled the other girl’s unit and so earned the cost of her medical treatments covered by the losing party. That combined with the cost to rebuild her VG from scratch would keep the idiot girl busy and destitute for quite some time.

In the aftermath of the teacher’s arrival and subsequent duel Chloe had been given a few pieces of advice from Lydia that had changed the course of her life.

“Look kid, If you don’t shut this shit down hard it’s going to keep happening. You really have only two choices, Get better at fighting or make some good friends.”

Chloe had decided on doing both. Holly was easy to approach and close to her in rank. She was a bit standoffish at first but once they learned that each of their mother’s were first generation pilots and each had left them their Vain Glory, Joyeux to Chloe and Avalon to Holly they became fast friends. The next time Chloe was confronted Holly was right there with her. Much to her shock Holly was downright vicious in a fight. When Chloe asked her about it later her response was an interesting one.

“Well love, it’s not like they have skull casings or subdermal weaves, or reinforced bones or any formal training. If they had those types of mods the Vain Glory would cook them alive. If they had the time or backing or diligence to learn to properly fight they wouldn’t be so pathetically ranked. As it is they’re rather lovely stress relief.”

Things had not gone as well when she made an attempt with Meiying Mei. The girl presented herself as cheery and airheaded but sometimes her mask would slip and her eyes would sharpen. She was loud and disruptive but always with purpose and the fact that she disliked Holly put an end to any serious tries to get to know her better.

Yukio Arai was polite but distant with most people he interacted with. He was intimate in some way with Vivienne and a wallflower of a girl named Sato who wasn’t all that highly ranked. Intruding on the trio felt wrong, and if she was seen cozying up to the world’s most desirable bachelor it would just make her an even bigger target.

Evona’s arrival had caused waves of her own. Talented in her own right and not one to mince words she also quickly received a target on her back. Unlike Chloe however, Evona’s school career had two major differences. The first was the fact that as citizen of The Holy Republic of Varalfa she was armed at all times, not just during piloting sessions. Something several low ranked thugs learned first hand. The second was the fact that she was the Crown Princess and thus was allowed to attend the Academy with a personal guard. One who fought incredibly well despite being even smaller than Chloe, and as a bodyguard was firmly outside the discipline system. Befriending her was as simple as sitting next to her at lunch one day and mutually venting about the aggression of the petty and stupid.

It had seemed that Ms Lazzaro had been keeping tabs on her because once she had been comfortable enough to call Holly and Evona friends Lydia offered her a mentorship.

Things were calm for a time but this morning the dogs around her remembered that they could bark. Chloe had not been idle and Holly had been eager to “stretch her legs for a bit” so when a small group of girls corralled them to a restroom near the hangers she welcomed it, which led to her current predicament. Standing in front of a mirror examining a black eye, a gaggle of girls collapsed around her and Holly waiting for her by the door.

“We need to call up Ms Lazzaro, let her know there was an incident.” Holly said.

Chloe wordlessly uncurled the phone on her wrist and dialed the number her mentor had given her. They had a brief conversation before Chloe hung up and let Holly know that they were instructed to head to the training arena. As they made their way to the maglev Chloe briefly thought about her life as a pilot and realized she’d rather still have her mother.