When Nic respawned, he was instantly back to business. Sprinting in the direction of Red Base, he said into the team chat, “Centaur crew, status report!”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Maqsud answered right away. Oh, right, he got blasted to virtual smithereens, too, Nic remembered.

“Well, glad to hear it,” Nic muttered awkwardly. “G-good. Um... Perri, J—”

“I’m back,” said Jarek.

“Me, too,” said Perri. “The Centaur is toast. They got us with a Rocket Launcher on our way back to Red Base with their flag. And they had ours, didn’t they?”

“That they did,” Max said wearily.

SCARLET FLAG CAPTURED! SCARLET: 1 | >AZURE: 2

“Well, that ain’t good,” Jarek grumbled.

Time to right this ship before it’s too late. “Focus up and get serious, guys! No more goofing around. New plan: no more vehicles. Upgrade Paks and weapons are fine if they’re literally directly in your path. Skip everything else. We need to track down their flag, bring it back to Red Base, and stop them from getting our last flag. This match is still winnable!”

“I found something on our way out that could really help defend,” said Perri. “A Turretbot. Can one of you come grab it? Or permission to run it back?”

“Tag the location if you can,” Nic answered. “Permission denied.”

“But Nic—”

“Perri, it’s way out of the way! Permission denied!”

“Why are you being so uptight today, ever since Round 1?” Perri paused, presumably to let him reply, but he had nothing to say. “They’re walking all over us because they’re going after vehicles and other pickups, even if it means going out of the way.”

“Delayed gratification versus instant,” Maqsud added. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. I imagine being on the cusp of winning Planet Gwher must be quite gratifying indeed.”

Nic shook his head. “This is about one objective, Perri. We come preloaded with weapons. We can run. We don’t need anything else. We capture all three of their flags first and we win. It’s as simple as that.”

“It’s not just about the objective, Nic! Sometimes it’s about battlefield control! Sometimes it’s about—”

“Enough!” Nic barked. “We’re wasting time. Team Scarlet, advance to Blue Base! Maqsud, you go, too. The best defense is a good offense. I’ll stay here to slow them down as much as I can.”

“Off I go, then!” said Max.

“I’m headed for Blue Base on foot,” Perri continued, “but I really think you’re making a mistake here, Nic. You said you would be open to suggestions, didn’t you?”

“If it was still 1-1, I’d be more open,” Nic answered as calmly as he could. “We are one point away from losing our very first planet, Perri. We need laser focus right now. I’m Squad Leader, and I’m pulling rank on this one. You have to trust that I know what I’m doing here.”

Perri scoffed incredulously. “Know what you’re doing? Nic, we didn’t even know what Wargame mode we were going to be playing until five minutes ago. It’s not like you’re some master tactician who drilled this in the Simnasium! I’m just saying that maybe—”

AZURE FLAG CAPTURED! >SCARLET: 2 | AZURE: 2

“Who was that?” Jarek asked gleefully. “It ain’t me—I'm halfway across the map!”

“I’ll be,” Nic said, a grin of vindication spreading across his face under his SimSuit helmet. “Thank you, Shanti, for sticking to my plan. Good capture. We’re all tied up once again thanks to you!” He waited for Perri to respond to his gloating; she didn’t. “I’m about 10 seconds from Red Base. I’m hunkering down there. Everyone else, go for their last flag. We’ve almost won!”

“For what it’s worth,” Jarek cut in, “I did find the Turretbot on my way there. It actually was on my way. You sure you don’t want me to head back and help defend with it? I mean, I already got it on me now. Just ain’t activated yet.”

Nic considered his next move carefully. It would pretty much be like having three of us on base to defend, he thought. And RTIFIS did stress the importance of balancing defense and offense... But he’s all the way across the map now. It would take him a while to get back. He’s closer to Blue Base, and having an extra gun could mean killing a few Azure players and securing their flag even quicker. If he wastes time in transit, then there’s no telling... Ugh, I don’t know what to do!

“Well?” Jarek asked after a while. “What’s it gonna be, boss? Your call.”

“Stick to the plan,” Nic replied finally. “Glad you found that Pak. Now use it to help your squadmates grab the last blue flag. I’ll hold down the fort here...” He swallowed a sudden lump of dread. “...for as long as I can.”

He scanned the Gwher battlefield for signs of encroaching Azure players. Every few seconds, he glanced at Team Scarlet’s final red flag waving silently in the corner of his vision, worried that somehow it might vanish if he didn’t keep tabs on it.

This is it. I’m going to win this. I’m a born winner. So much so that I’ll lead my entire squad to victory with me!

By the time he noticed the EMP Grenade at his feet, it was too late to dodge.

“AAAAGHH... g-... h-...” Nic cried out in realistic agony in the Corvette’s Simnasium, real electrical signals transmitted through his genuine peripheral nervous system. Every time it happened, he had the impulse to tear off his SimSuit for relief. Every time, he resisted the temptation. Kilometers away from his true body, out in a desert on Gwher, his proxybot’s HUD flickered back to life in pixelated subsections.

“I’ll gi-... three guesses,” Edith’s garbled voice said from behind him.

“Y-you always l-l-love... your s-s-...” Nic struggled to shake the lingering effects of simulated electrocution. “You alw-ways l-love your s-sneak attacks. One of m-my squadmates—”

“And just so y-... get any funny ideas,” Edith said choppily, her voice still crackling with static through Nic’s fried sensors. Then she slipped her Combat Knife into the joints of his proxy’s neck. He nearly choked from the unexpected pain. “Not sure if you can hear me yet, but if you can, I just wanted to say thanks for the win today. I couldn’t have done it without you! No hard feelings, though, okay? I hope your future outings are more successful.” She plucked Team Scarlet’s final flag from Red Base. “Oh, and don’t move the wrong way or you’ll lose the rest of your health, got it?” She patted him on the shoulder smugly.

NIC [9%]

The second he was able to move his stunned proxybot’s arms again, he yanked out the pins of both of his Grenades.

She tossed the astrosteel flagpole into the air, detached his Grenades, and threw them harmlessly off of Red Base, where they detonated in a cloud of Gwher sand. Then she caught the flag and turned her back to him. “Tsk-tsk-tsk,” she said as she walked. “That might have been impressive during your Final, Nic, but you’re a long way from home now. Start playing like it.”

His wobbly legs began to cooperate, causing him to stumble a few steps down the ramp of Red Base, following her at maybe a tenth of her speed. Each wrong step punished his wound with more lost health.

NIC [8%] NIC [6%]

No time. Respawn’s faster. I’ll have to call this one a wash. Come on, Nic... just do it. It’ll only hurt for a few seconds. 3... 2... He reached up and yanked the knife out of his neck, ending his life instantly. The pain made him gasp like a bucket of cold water dumped on him without warning. It passed just like he knew it would.

RTIFIS, I’m begging you—respawn me close to their base. Don’t let us come this close just to lose it all!