"Cat in the jungle. Ah. Jokes. Do I watch playback on mute? Mm, no. Can't resist. Besides, it's more instructive in the event of a loss." 

Stub-clawed fingers glide over a series of switches and dials, clicking the row on the top-left of the main panel into the proper positions with a chorus of extremely satisfying clunks. The smooth palm and spotted fur of the hand glow in the harsh cockpit lighting, rippling with motion as they grasp a large lever and tug it forcefully into a neutral position. 

Her spare hand takes a moment to pluck at the skintight jumpsuit clinging to her body like it's trying to merge with her. She shifts the fabric a bit so it pinches her tummy a little less, but her muscles tug it right back the second she shifts. She shrugs. The material's amazing at keeping sweat off her skin so she can't really mind it too much, as hot as it gets in here. Her leg stomps down on a foot pedal as two liquid eyes flit over information displayed across a dozen different screens and pop ups. 

And in the jungle, Nine-Tails takes a single cautious step. The lithe frame of the mecha tightens its grip around the trident in its hands, while its eight free floating "tail" units hover quietly behind it, with only the occasional pink spark from the energy matrix that keeps them linked with the main machine. 

"Systems check, all green. Input delay measuring at seven milliseconds; within expected parameters. Beginning first live combat test... now."

Mirror's face scrunches into a light frown. It tended to do that when she was happy, and in particular when she was happy about being presented with a challenge. In a less cramped environment she might also stretch her spine and stand up on her tiptoes, but inside the confines of her mecha all she can do is hunch forward in her chair to grip the joysticks tighter. The great secret of the Gods-Slaying Whip: it had no neural link of any kind. Consequently, that made her one of only a tiny handful of people in the known galaxy who might be able to pilot it at all. 

But this was not the time for self congratulation. The value of the systems hadn't proven themselves yet, except on paper. Over a year's worth of obsessive thought, sleepless nights, and long arguments with her family, and so far all she had to show for it was what she referred to as a Pattern Puzzle. Each layer of the riddle unfolded to reveal a new dependency in the pattern, such that you couldn't simply brute force a bunch of colors together on a cube and call it good. Every piece needed to be arranged just so in order to get the shape of the puzzle on the next level to reveal itself, and even a correct seeming solution could only show her parts of what was underneath it. She wouldn't know if she'd done it properly until she got down to the core and received her reward. It reminded her of the way AI logic was woven out of such dense tangles of visual information that spoke to artistry almost as much as systems mastery, and how without any given piece of seemingly pointless data the entire thing would become so much inert sludge. Hence, the name. Satisfying.

"Layer one: disadvantage."

For as much as the... preliminary matches still had commentary teams, right? They didn't save that for the later, more important rounds? That would be a disappointment to learn. Regardless, while any hypothetical commentary team would doubtless be wasting infinite air calling this her home territory, the truth was that it (to use a popular human expression) 'hardcore sucked'. The true power of her Nine-Tails was in its adaptability, but that required space she didn't have in all this dense foliage for her tails to move about freely. Additionally, since her rig used camera feeds instead of pushing sensory information directly into her head, any sort of information dense battleground would naturally take her longer to process than a sufficiently talented opponent using a more traditional control scheme. The difference would be measured in fractions of a second, if that, but smaller windows had cost her more.

"Moreover, can only make assumptions. Moreover, minimal confirmation of enemy combat tactics. Moreover, determining position amounts to determining weapon capabilities."

Mirror nodded to herself. These would be good logs to have for later. She should install an audio recorder later if she found the time. But in the meantime, the shape of the Pattern was still becoming known to her. If the Lonely Star was a... what was the word again? In her native tongue it would be a [Far Seer] but with a human opponent it felt important to think in human terminology. A sharp shooter, perhaps? Regardless. If it primarily operated on the principles of long range, high precision marksmanship, then Valentina would respond to a threat-level response with a full power kill shot, ideally from the edge of her viable range. But if that tiny frame were focused more exclusively on maneuverability, she'd already be using the tree cover to slip in closer. 

In either case the solution was to close distance and establish her Zone overtop of the Lonely Star's, but without knowing the exact size and shape of her enemy's Zone it would be impossible to properly manifest control. If she prepared for the wrong angle of attack then her own lightly armored unit would fall before it got a chance to gather any useful data. Unacceptable risk. 

"Information wars cut both ways," she clicked her tongue while musing, "Must remember that."

This was the hidden layer of the challenge: victory was irrelevant in the face of learning. As far as the tournament was concerned, the only important thing was to qualify out of the preliminary matches and enter the main rounds where she'd actually be able to do everything she needed. A perfect record beforehand was excessive. If others mocked her for dropping an early fight... well, they mocked her plenty as is. Irrelevant. Of vastly greater importance was disguising the full capabilities of Nine-Tails. The less others understood the functionality of her tails, the greater her advantage would be when it mattered. As such, she'd already calculated she could only afford to use one third of her full capability in qualifications. 

"Establishes a baseline response anyway. Important work."

In any case, it was a question of understanding enemies, understanding spaces. Understanding the biome reached a distant third. Based on publicly available information, it could reasonably be assumed that if Mirror took the river safely, she would win without question. At least, no one reasonable would question it. The answer to the riddle, then, was to establish reason and position at the same time. 

...She's spent this long standing still in reasonably exposed space without being attacked. That's an answer in and of itself, really. But even still, one could never finish a puzzle using only negative information. Two tails shouldn't make for too big a strain on her concentration, right? 

"Nine Drive System is active. Initiating full burn. Come and get me, if you dare."

The Gods-Smiting Whip shares no tactile data with Mirror as it first crouches low into the wet ground and then leaps high into the air on a burst of thruster fire, but that only makes the G-forces feel more potent as they force her back into her chair. It brings a knee up without her needing to, it twists it's back and arcs into a high flip as it clears the trees and hangs in the open air for three glorious seconds. Six tails follow as if on strings. Two more, hidden and waiting at the edge of the canopy. Mirror jerks her joysticks hard and her mech twists in the air, flourishing its trident with menace and purpose. Six buttons in sequence, and her hidden tails lock together like the barrel of an oversize rifle. 

Her heartbeat quickens. [i]This[/i] is what it truly feels like to fly.