[h1][center]The Finals[/center][/h1]

[b]Dolly[/b]

The broadcast control center for the finals is based on Akar prime, in the heart of the spaceport, on level three (3) of the traffic control tower. Easiest way to staff it from both planets, high tech equipment, perfect broadcast location for the whole system.

Matty comes on over the comms you’ve got nestled at the base of your ear, blended into your fur so nobody can see it right off the bat. “O-okay, so you’re going to need to get Jade’s mesh into the broadcast center and i-inside the control console, along with the data uplink controller, um, t-that’s the little stick with the gold light on it. It will turn green when you hook it to the console. There’s um…two s-staff in there, both Terenians, one that’s um g-got long hair and she’s short and another one that’s um k-kinda darker and has short hair. Isabelle’s going to distract everyone else so that you’ll have a clear approach, but you’ll have to talk your way into the control room and close enough to do the thing and not have them notice. Or um…agree to it I guess?”

You’ve been tasked with giving Jade control over the broadcast equipment for Mirror’s final match. It is apparently deeply important that the broadcast be controlled to her directions and Jade has been given the instructions for that part, you’ve just got to be the physical link that gets her in. Who’s with you, did you bring Ksharta and Angela to help, or go by yourself to be less noticeable?

[b]Jade[/b]

You’re the hacker. Slate’s finished her modifications and your idol body feels lighter and stronger than ever before. But, one of those modifications, mixed in with all the high tech new sensor equipment, is a hacking module. One that’s capable of taking over a wide array of communications equipment all at one time. One that you’ve been asked, very politely and formally, to use to control the finals broadcast at key moments as directed by Matty. You’re linked with Dolly of course. She’s got to get into the room and get you hooked into the equipment before you can start your work properly. Got any encouragement for her?

***

[b]Isabelle[/b]

The spaceport is crowded and well-staffed. The broadcast for the Arena finals is one of the most popular programs across the entire galaxy. Staff are coming and going, there’s catering, there’s tech staff, there’s actual security, and then all the assorted randoms: the bureaucrats and supervisors, and even some interns all filling the space. 

Your job is to get everyone out of the way so that Dolly can safely approach and work her way into the master control room in the spaceport on the third level of the tower. You’ve got all the engineering power of Hybrasil and the Terenius Consortium that Slate and Asil could offer you, Zaldarian nanotech, and anything else you can muster from your friends, allies, and contacts. Matty is on the communicator line for any coordination you need.

Dolly’s already on the move. How are you managing all this, and what’s going through your head as you do it?

***

[b]Matty[/b]

You cannot believe they left you to do this alone. Alone! You can’t leave your post for anything. Well, you could, but Slate has been working nonstop for days and you don’t have the heart in you to wake her to take over your spot. Not for anything, not unless the building is burning down, and even then you’d try to carry her out without waking her. No, she gets to snore away in the next room after her hard-earned reward arranging an entire network wide communications takeover linked to the entire redo of Jade’s idol body. Which she apparently also completed in record time and did not skimp on any of the requested features in the process. 

But, you’ve set Dolly up, and you’re waiting for any signals from Isabelle, and meanwhile Kiriala is in a nearby building disabling their security so that everybody else won’t be recorded doing any of this. But she hasn’t contacted you in thirty minutes and you’re too afraid to distract her yet since she’s still on schedule, so you’re just sitting on your office chair in the hangar and fidgeting your legs which do not reach the floor in this desk setup and hoping that everything goes great for Mirror’s broadcast takeover. Yeah, this plan totally isn’t crazy!

***
***
***

[b]Mirror and Solarel[/b]

For the finals, your arena is…the planet. The entire planet. 

You are starting in an arena proper. Not the one where Mirror fought Heim, which is apparently still entirely closed off and has been moved underground using the nanobots surrounding the area to do earth moving for unspecified repairs. But nevermind that, they’ve created an entirely new arena at a mecha scale. You and Solarel deploy to a vast field, surrounded by glorious marble spires ten stories tall, holding up two rows of white marble walls. The top is open, creating a vast colosseum surrounding you for the beginning of your fight. 

But you are not limited. There are no boundaries and no other competitors. The nano-bot constructed planet is laid out to cover its range of terrain used over the tournament. Sections of it are arranged as Terenian cities, some in new shape, others ruined and overgrown. Vast rivers and forests cover some areas, others are mountainous and open. Above you, several space platforms and satellites float in the upper atmosphere. And the skies are clear and cloudless on this side of the mountains, the sun shining down and lighting up the arena. You could burn clear across the planet for hours and keep fighting wherever you please. Or you could stay exactly where you started and clash in close quarters. 

Camera drones are deployed above you, and many, many more are secreted about the space, prepared to follow you or activate as you move about in order to get the best shots at the best angle, all broadcast back to the system for the live viewings, and then to the neural mesh recordings for mash production and dissemination across the solar systems. 

The entire world is your battlefield, do with it what you will.