After finishing their registrations, Vincent, Anna, Justin, and Mister Myers proceeded to enter the main hall for the competition. When they arrived, they took their seats. The entirety of the first few rows had been reserved for the participants. When they sat down, Vincent observed his surroundings and noticed that several flags were being held by the audience. Vincent muttered under his breath, “That’s some school spirit.” To be frank, he was quite surprised by how many people had turned up for the tournament. The entire arena was packed to the rafters. “I never knew this game was so popular. Why haven’t I heard about WARFRAME before this?” Vincent kept looking around the arena and saw banners being displayed all over the place. “Guess, these must belong to the sponsors." Vincent continued to observe his surroundings to get a good look at his possible opponents when an announcement was made.

The announcement was made by the event organizers. Vincent found the female announcer to have a sweet voice, despite him not being able to see the announcer. Vincent listened in on the announcement to make sure he did not miss anything important. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being patient with us. Through an impartial drawing of lots from our staff, the brackets have now been formed. Please observe the screen to see your opponents for your respective teams.” Vincent, Anna, and Justin looked at the large screen that was suspended over the tournament arena. It was one of four screens and it was the screen that faced their direction.

The brackets were divided into A block and B block. Each block has 16 teams participating, with matches for the first round of the tournament from each block. Anna observed the division of teams into the blocks, “It looks like we’re in B block, and ours is the second match. The progression of events should be the same as last year. In other words, it will start with the A block and after all of the matches in A block have finished, the matches for B block will start. In that sequence, our match should be the fourth match.” Vincent looked at the screen and thought, "I wonder what our first opponents will use?"

Vincent and Justin nodded. They understood the information that Anna had revealed to them. The announcement continued, “The Massey, Massachusetts Qualifiers Tournament of the United States WARFRAME under 18 Championship, organized by Earth United will now commence!” After the announcement was made, the screens change their display. It was now displaying the logo of Earth United as well as the title of the tournament.

Once this appeared on screen, the entire arena cheered with excitement as the games were about to begin. Vincent could not even hear himself because of how loud the crowd was. Vincent was pumped, “I can’t wait to show my new Jakqoo.” Justin looked at the screen, feeling a bit nervous, “So, it’s our turn from the get-go, huh. Well, now is as good a time as any.” Anna observed her team and nodded, “Good, they’re not overly anxious. They should be ready. Looks like I was worried over nothing.”

Anna, Vincent, and Justin, along with Mister Myers, went to the staging area to wait for their cue. Anna had told Vincent and Justin earlier that it was best for them to wait by the cockpit pods until it was their turn to fight. As they waited, they heard an announcement and watched the screen. “We now begin the first match of round one of the qualifiers.” Listening to the announcement Vincent, Justin and Anna watched the screen as six frames entered the battlefield. Stars glistened in the dark emptiness of space. Large rocks were floating around when 6 frames began their fight for supremacy. Each side had three units. One team was comprised of a Champion and two Warriors, while the other team was entirely comprised of Warrior type frames.

The first time launched their bits and unleashed a barrage of beams. This must have been a team focused on powerful attacks. However, their opponents were able to dodge the beams and flew around. The Ballista, a Champion type frame with a large build and long arms, with dark pink and white colors, continued with its barrage but its opponent’s Phantom, a Warrior type frame that was pure black with a flip sword on each arm, was able to get in close and attack it with its swords. However, the attack did not hit as the Ballista was able to dodge the attack before being shot from behind by a beam shot from the Marauder, the teammate of the Phantom. Before being split in half by the Marauder’s curved blades.

After defeating the Ballista, the Phantom went to destroy its teammate. With a single slash, it was able to destroy the one-eyed scarlet-colored frame. After destroying another one, all that was left was the third and final frame from the opposing team. Both the Phantom and the Marauder teamed up with their third teammate, the Crusader, a frame of black and white wielding dual blades. The three frames ganged up on their opponent and cut it into six pieces. Once the frame exploded, the mechanical voice made its announcement, “Battle ended!” Before the announcer made her announcement, “The winner of the first match is team Lost Swords from Mark Hughes High School.”

Just after that match had ended, the second match began. The battlefield was one Vincent was all too familiar with. Yellow sand, rocks, and dirt covered the ground with stone hills, and mountains with large red rocks, it was the Desert Battlefield. From what Vincent observed, he could see three white Warrior types dashing through the sand before the dust kicked up. As the dust rose, the vision of the three frames was reduced. They were unable to see through the storm of dust and sand. Just when one of them tried to break through the dust storm, it was sent crashing back into the center with its chest slightly caved in. Another member of the team tried to do the same and pass through the wall of dust and sand when a sound similar to something hitting a gong and the frame came flying back into the center.

The leader of the team saw an opening above and decided to fly through but just as he was about to take off, several objects fell into the eye of the dust storm that surrounded them and landed near their feet. Seeing the objects, he knew what they were. The captain tried to get rid of them but his actions were for naught. Just as he was about to kick them away, he was too late, the numerous spherical objects detonated and exploded in a ball of a flame destroying all three of them. With the three frames destroyed, the dust settled, revealing a Panzer-type frame. Two other Panzer-type frames launched themselves from the top of the nearby large rocks and landed next to the first Panzer type.

With their victory, the tournament announcer made her announcement, “Winner, Jameson Carter High School Dirt Bike Club, team Dune Raiders.” The captain of the Dune Raiders sneered from inside his cockpit, “Your loss was decided the moment you entered our playground.” Watching the match Anna commented, “A team made entirely out of Panzer-types. Thread-based Panzer types. Are these guys serious?” Justin then chided in, “I wonder how these guys would react if the battlefield were space or underwater.” Mister Myers also looked at the screen before turning to his team, “It’s almost time for Silver Vanguard to strut their stuff. You three better win this for us.” All three members were excited and smiled at Mister Myers as Vincent answered, “You got it, coach. We’re in it to win it.”