Nic sprinted at top speed in the direction of the tank currently in motion. His job, according to Perri—to whom he’d given creative control this round—would be infiltration. He and Shanti would both sneak in covertly directly behind the Medusa tank, away from its lethal cannon in front.

According to Perri, the Medusa’s railgun cannon was a tad weaker than a rocket, but it could fire once every two seconds with virtually bottomless ammo. Its fatal flaw was that its cannon had only 179 degrees of rotation in either direction—meaning coming up exactly behind it would allow them to advance unscathed. In theory, anyway.

Meanwhile, Maqsud was tasked with creating a diversion. He would take the Armorizer that Perri had tagged and run straight at the tank. It would be painful, but with twice the health bar he’d normally have, he would provide a crucial distraction for at least a few seconds.

That was all the time Perri and Jarek would need; they were both headed for a cache of EMP grenades, which they would lob mercilessly at the Medusa until it stalled in place. This would disengage the tank’s hatch lock and allow Nic and Shanti to climb inside, where Nic would escape with the clock while Shanti knifed as many proxy necks as she could.

It was a bold plan—and the only one that would work in this pinch.

“Shanti and I are in position,” Nic whispered into the team chat. He and Shanti kept pace with the rolling Medusa, creeping up straight behind it at a distance of about 10 meters. “Waiting for our cue.”

“I found the Armorizer,” said Maqsud. “It’s attached. I’ve taken up position behind the rock you mentioned, and they are rolling straight for me. They don’t see me yet. Standing by to activate.”

“We’re closing in on the EMPs,” said Perri. “Good work, everybody. We have a real shot at this. But we have to be lightning fast—no hesitation. Can we do that?”

“Affirmative,” Nic replied on everyone’s behalf.

SCARLET: 0:58 | >AZURE: 3:39

We have less than a minute and a half to pull this off. Perri, please make this work.

“We’re running,” said Jarek. “Almost... in position now.”

Perri whistled in the team chat. “On my mark. Three... two... now!”

Nic and Shanti kept pace with the tank, waiting for their time to strike, each of them holding their weapons of choice in one hand—Nic, his SMG, and Shanti, her Combat Knife. They were Step 3 of Perri’s master plan.

“Hey, you blue buffoons!” Max shrieked through his audio output. “Hey, over here! See me? Upgrade Activate!” Nic watched Maqsud’s health update in real time.

MAQSUD [##########] (##########) 200% >>ACTIVE UPGRADE PAK: ARMORIZER<<

Immediately, Team Azure fired upon him with their railgun cannon. He grunted and groaned in the aftermath of their first shot, wincing audibly from the pain.

“Is that all you’ve got?” he taunted them. “Pathetic!”

“Please tell me you’re close!” Nic hissed into the team chat.

Another soft boom of the railgun. Max reeled from the blast—his next words were choked out through gritted teeth. “I’m dead... in one more... shot. Perri? Are you... about ready?”

A slight pause. “Jarek and I sending EMPs in three... two... now!” Perri cried out.

Two EMP Grenades soared into the air and clinked against the astrosteel hull of the Medusa tank. They went off in quick succession, their explosions utterly harmless to the space-grade metal—but they had their intended effect. Visible arcs of electricity skittered across the surface like grease on a hot skillet, shocking the monster of a vehicle into temporary submission.

Nic waited for the exact moment the sparks subsided to say, “That’s us!” At that, he and Shanti sprang into action, bolting for the tank and leaping in unison. They both grabbed onto the rear ladder and climbed up the back.

Team Azure’s cannon was frozen in place, its circuits temporarily scrambled from the force of the electromagnetic pulse. It could neither move nor shoot. This is it, Nic thought. Take back the clock and we can win! Our debut match will be a flawless victory!

“Going in!” Nic exclaimed.

He and Shanti yanked open the tank’s hatch and jumped inside. Instantly, Shanti went for the strategically optimal kill—the carrier herself. She plunged her Combat Knife into the carrier’s metal throat just as Nic reached for the clock.

Teamwork beats tank.

In the next instant, the carrier threw the clock to a teammate. He was so close his fingers almost brushed the cube in transit. Shanti finished the killing move with her knife and eliminated Chrissy—but now Lise had the clock.

Nic lunged for it. Edith grabbed him by the wrists and subdued him at first—he broke free, kicking her to the back of the cramped cabin.

But he was too late.

SCARLET: 0:58 | >AZURE: 5:00 GAME OVER TEAM SCARLET: DEFEAT

Nic turned around ready to deck Edith’s proxybot right in its metal face until his POV suddenly went black.

said RTIFIS.

“Yeah, we got that, thanks!” Nic snapped. He found himself in their Simnasium once again, their helmets detaching and SimSuits deflating.

“What happened?” Perri asked. “You got inside, didn’t you?”

Nic could feel his face scowling against his will. He made a point not to look at any of his squadmates. “Not soon enough.”

No one seemed to acknowledge RTIFIS this time.

“I put myself through simulated torture for nothing?” Maqsud asked incredulously.

“Don’t look at me!” Nic replied. He regretted what he said next before he even said it, and yet he couldn’t stop himself. “Wasn’t my plan...”

Perri scoffed. “Yeah, but Nic, what else could we have done?” He knew it was her talking, but all he could hear in his head were Edith’s words.

You lost the moment you landed, kid.

“We’re going back to how we did things in Round 1,” said Nic. “This is our last chance to win this. I’m calling the shots from here on out. You can make suggestions, but I’m not giving the final say to anyone else today.”

“You’re being preposterous right now, Nicolas,” said Maqsud. “You never answered her question. What else could we have done? It seems to me like you and Shanti were the ones who...” He trailed off when Nic shot him a glare and then he threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Strike a nerve? My mistake.”

“None of this would have happened if you would have let me go for the tank in the first place,” Perri argued. “I could have blasted my way through their whole squad and picked you up. It would have been us racking up five minutes in there instead of them!”

“I’m not interested in debating this with you, Perri,” Nic replied. “I’m resuming command of this mission.”

She folded her arms. “And what if I refuse?”

“I’m not asking. I’m Squad Leader. You can bow out if you want.” I don’t know why I’m talking to her like this. She had a decent strategy. I... I just can’t believe we came so close and still lost! I cannot let Edith be right about us. I won’t have come this far just to be reassigned to some dead-end manual labor job for the rest of my life. Not. Happening. “But I don’t think you want to forfeit. I don’t think anyone else here does, either.”

Perri glared at him. “Fine. We’ll do it all your way. See what happens.”

“Opening the floor to any other input,” said Nic.

Jarek shook his head and shrugged. “You know me. Somebody wanna point me in the right direction, I’ll be there. You lead the way.”

Maqsud rubbed his shoulder tenderly. “It sounds like you have a very specific vision for how you’d like this next round to proceed, Nic. I, for one, would like to see exactly how it plays out. I think it’ll be quite educational for all of us—win or lose.” He sounded like he genuinely meant that.

If they won, then it meant Nic had valuable strategies to teach them. If they lost, then it meant that Nic was wrong. Either way, Maqsud would have an angle from which to gloat at the end of it all—either to Team Azure or to Nic.

Time to show them all why the Final Exam made me Squad Leader, he thought. It’s not over yet, Edith.