[b]Mirror[/b]

It’s unusual coming back to your space this way. Normally, you’d be coming back in the Nine-Tails with your engineering crew to receive you at landing. Or coming back from shopping, exercise, maybe a party or a show for Mayze having only been gone long enough to give everyone else a chance to unwind but nowhere near long enough to lose track of them.

But you’ve been traveling through most of the system. Not as far as a hyperlane jump at least, but long enough for the day that had just started when Jade summoned you to be ending.

When you get in, you find Slate on the couch, sitting at an angle where she’s got one leg up, one leg hanging over the edge, and her tail curled behind her hanging over the edge of the couch towards the floor. She’s reading a data-pad, a piece of memory weave sat next to her for recording her impressions for later use. 

Matty is there too, but she’s sitting on the floor at the base of the couch, her knees out and her legs partially folded under her. She was reading a datapad too, but you’ve arrived upon her guiltily caught batting at Slate’s loose tail, which twitches away from her silly paws which are not even really trying to grab it. Slate’s got a smile on her face.

When you walk in they both freeze for an instant, then Matty bounds up and jumps into a hug, not even abashed by your fancy dress, while Slate sits up and puts down the data pad, but doesn’t quite manage to stand. 

“So, uh, how’d that whole thing go?” Slate asks, head just slightly cocked. It’s a sincere question to see how you’re feeling, but also both girls seem like they’d be quite interested in recording qualitative data about your piloting experience in a different mecha while it’s still fresh. 

After you’ve answered, and sat, and gotten something to eat and drink, Slate will also hand you her datapad with the info about your next match. She will not do it before you’ve done those things. 

Opponent: Kiriala, Beloved of Maeahu
Mecha: Ginger Tiger

Known statistics:
Power: ***
Speed: ***
Defense: ***

Pilot profile:
Kiriala hails from the Hybrasil orbital rings. She’s a tigress and member of the huntress lodge. She’s known for being an investigator, primarily tracking smugglers near the Hybrasil home system during her early career. After helping solve a fairly notable murder of a famous Hybrasilian biologist, she got enough fame and enough time off to train her piloting skills and compete for a spot in the Akar tournaments, which she won. She is currently undefeated. Her mecha has average weaponry and defenses, using several lasers and a spear in standard huntress fashion, with no standout characteristics. Her victories have come from a style in which she defends until getting a proper read on her opponent and then striking a weak point decisively. 

Terrain information: 
[i]There is a note that this was updated from its original plan due to the center stage arena where you fought Heim Stockar being unavailable for use[/i]
You’ll be fighting in a large plains area
The space will be relatively open and flat, with rolling grasses
There will be clear skies, allowing for the fight to take place over a wide distance in all three dimensions with unobstructed sight lines

***

[b]Dolly and Jade[/b]

Time is a precious resource, isn’t it? Time to think, time to pray, time to sleep, time to wake and be alone together. After so much has happened, there is a special safety in being alone together, even beyond the cult. 

Where do you find your solitude? Is it within Jade, still working on reconstituting her alter? Is it in your apartment on Akar Prime, linked by memory weave? Is it somewhere else where you can feel special? 

What do you do with your time?

When the information for next match comes, how is it delivered to avoid interrupting this important time?

Opponent: Ada Smith
Mecha: The Unseen Goose II

Known statistics:
Power: *****
Speed: ***
Defense: ***

Pilot profile:
Smith is a veteran pilot leading the Mercenary Company known as the Snow Geese, headquarters unknown. Smith competed in Arena seasons 1 and 2, but has been absent since then and is returning to competition now unseeded. Her original Mecha, the Unseen Goose, was destroyed in a match with Isabelle Lozano, although Smith was declared the technical victor. Her new mecha, the Unseen Goose II retains the same focus on high power blows, though it apparently has a slightly lower defense than the original, perhaps focused more on the precision and energy of its weapon systems. She has only lost the one match to Lozano and the performance of her new mecha is mostly unknown beyond its general specifications. 
 

Terrain information: 
You’ll be battling in a reproduction of a Zaldarian nanobot factory and surrounds
The terrain will have one large mecha factory and hangar, allowing for interior maneuvering and hiding with active noise and machinery
It will be surrounded by relatively stark low cliffs in the exterior, favoring more open combat
Weather is expected to be dark clouds but no rain, leading to the factory area being well-lit while surrounds are dark

***

[b]Solarel[/b]

The meditations within the Kathresis will, after a time, be interrupted by your new high priestess, who personally delivers the information about your next opponent, waiting on you until you surface to acknowledge her coming.

“I heard you had acknowledged our cult and I am pleased by your graciousness” she says, speaking to you for the first time. Her voice is low and melodious, giving little hint of her age in its style. 

“We have received delivery of your next opponent. It will be one of the knights under the new Empress Naelkai II, praised be her name.” She offers the standard acknowledgment, almost rote, though she glances at you to see how you’ll react to such acknowledgment of the woman who banished you. 

She will continue after your response regardless: “It is…still said that none can pilot the Aeteline and that it continues to acknowledge you as its only pilot. The knights believe that defeating you in a duel is the only way to change its pilot. Is there…anything in light of the opponent that you would like further modified to the Kathresis?”

She bows, indicating by her question that her loyalty is to the god she has given herself to and to its pilot by extension, regardless of the fact that she will be opposing the representative of the Empress. 

Opponent: Akaithon
Mecha: Makhaira

Known statistics:
Power: ****
Speed: ****
Defense: ****

Pilot profile:
Akaithon is one of the knights of the Empress of Zaldaria and one of her competitors. Akaithon began her service to the Empress Naelkai prior to her ascension, serving in her personal guard during the Hybrasilian war before they turned to seize the city. All of Akaithon’s piloting records so far have indicated this veteran skill. Combined with her mecha, the Makhaira, which is above average in all statistics and wields a powerful two-handed blade, Akaithon has yet to be defeated in combat during the tournament. Rumors are that her only defeats to date came at the hands of a combined force of huntresses fighting together. 
 

Terrain information: 
Your battle will take place on the space platform
There is a limited zone of space where you can compete, falling too far out of bounds towards the planet is considered a forfeit
The platform itself has been retrofitted for this fight to be a circular cylinder, offering a flat battleground with two opposite sides that requires moving to the edge to cross

***
[b]Isabelle[/b]

Asil doesn’t talk during the work, save to ask practical questions. It’s your mecha. “More power to shields or engines?” “How tight do you want the arm rotation?” “Do you want a mount on the upper arm or the shoulder?”

These are the words you exchange as she works, always confirming the specifications to bring the Emberlight to your desired end state.

It’s only at the end, when you’ve both let yourselves down from the harnesses, when you’re both smudged and dirty with oil and sweat, that she speaks. “You know, you’d make a great mechanic right? Keep it in mind if you ever get tired of the corporate princess thing. I know some guys who’d take you, no questions asked.”

Then she smiles her wicked smile showing her teeth, “and if you’re too disobedient, now I know I’ll get something useful if I set you punishment labor.”

She walks over and gives you a quick kiss on your sooty cheek, and then leaves for the night, satisfied. 

When you get your match information later, you can start to wonder if you’ve modified the Emberlight correctly, and if you’ll use it or the Novasurge for the next match.
Opponent: Ksharta “Talon” Talonna
Mecha: Pulsar Cat

Known statistics:
Power: ***
Speed: *****
Defense: ***

Pilot profile:
Talon’s match record is mixed, with two wins and a loss to Dala Hunters. She continues to show evidence of high overall skills, especially reflexes, but is easily intimidated and can be overawed in a fight. Since her loss, however, she has shown an increased stubborn streak and may have become harder to fluster. This bodes ill for her opponents, as the Pulsar Cat skillfully piloted is quite formidable. 

Terrain information: 
You will be fighting in a jungle setting
There will be several waterways with clumps of low trees just tall enough to hide a mecha, but so clustered that they would make fighting difficult
Weather is expected to be cloudy, allowing for cover during flight, although high altitude flight above the clouds may be possible and offer clear sightlines if both combatants take that field