27 Face-Off.
Aries stood up from the chair and slammed the table hard. His eyes were brimming with anger when he saw Major Rackham bringing in the instructor of the battle class inside with his hands shackled. He shouted, “How dare you? Do you not understand your responsibility? A teacher is supposed to be fair. What you did was out of line and a shady act that stained the profession of a teacher. You shameful scum.”
He was having a real hard time controlling himself from killing Igor. The teacher had a smug expression on his face and he had no regrets. He said, “I know, you all look down on me but weak people have no right to contend against the strong. The war front is not as fair as you all think it is. You do not know what they will have to face. Did you all forget the massacre of Athena?”
Athena was a planet The Federation had colonized. However, right after they thought the crusade was complete, the inhabitants of the planet revolted. The Federation had a force of fifty thousand people posted there, but none survived in the onslaught. The tragedy of Athena made the people realize that they were not the only ones who had the strength.
Igor’s words woke up the people. Only now did they realize why Igor pushed his class so much. He did not want them all to perish on the battlefield and believed that only those who were ruthless can survive the battlefield.
Stevenson said, “You will be dealt with later on. Now focus on the battle.”
His words made the people turn their heads back at the monitoring screens. They saw Jenkins attacking and Shi Lang changing the strategies. Aries and Rackham raised their eyebrows at how the teams had begun to behave.
The decoys were now running away and the guerillas were sneaking up like usual but this time, the combat was not decisive enough, they would clash and after a strike or two, the technology class would vanish in the forest. The snipers all kept hidden, they did not attack and even did not breathe when the enemy was close to them.
The people in the monitoring room were confused. Suddenly, Teacher Rosa said, “Can we have an infrared scene of the whole map? Highlight the technology team in green and the battle class in red.”
Stevenson was curious and nodded. A technician tapped a digital tab a few times and the scene on the screen changed. Rosa stood up from her chair and said, “Edward ploy?”
Edward Ploy, a strategy used by the first general in a battle inside an asteroid belt. Stevenson nodded and said, “Decoys are to lead, guerillas are to pressure, the last strike belongs to the snipers. Just like using gunships as a decoy, Fighter class as guerillas and hiding the dreadnaughts behind the asteroids. Gathering the enemy in a pool and taking them down all at once.”
The people nodded and one of the guys from the battle class faculty said, “The leader seems to be student Lang. He has done a good job in executing this plan.”
The rest of the teachers could not help but agree more.
…
Inside the battle map, the battle class was led by their noses, Shi Lang’s plan was executed perfectly. Everyone was a tech nerd and they were all aware of you to use their brains to the fullest. Jenkins was looking for more people to kill but oddly enough he could not find any. He was enraged and confused at the same time.
He used his mini computer but it only showed the position of his teammates. He found them all moving in seemingly random directions or circles. He did not have any idea of what was going on so he decided to make a beeline towards the enemy spawn spot. On the other side, Shi Lang was the same.
He said to his team, “The match will finish when we capture the spawn spot of the enemy team. Since the battle class is occupied, how about we also do the same?”
Tim and the rest thought for a bit and then nodded. They all moved forward and the confident battle class had never thought about the ‘weak’ class to be able to reach their doorsteps and thus they had not left a single fighter to guard the place.
Shi Lang and the rest walked inside freely and Lucas erected the flag of their team to capture the area. However, after a few minutes, the battle did not end. When Shi Lang was about to use the console to contact the people outside, an announcement was made.
“This is the principal of the school, Technology team has captured the spawn spot of the battle class. Congratulations.” he took a pause and let the technology class enjoy their victory. However, just after the people erupted in cheers.
The voice rang out again, “The final round has a little twist. The captain of the battle team is now given a choice. One he can challenge the captain of the opposite team and redeem the win after a duel. Or pick ten minutes to complete this group battle and snatch back the medallion of victory.”
Jenkins did not hesitate and said, “I choose Second.”
The principal replied, “All the best to you.”
Shi Lang was shocked by the announcement and the decision made by Jenkins. But he still expected the latter to hunt down his people. He used the communications and said, “Take down every single battle class monkey with you as you can I will take on Jenkins.”
Then he mumbled to himself, “It has been ages since I had gotten the rust off.”
…
Rosa glared at the people with a cold gaze and said, “Hypocrites all of you.”
Stevenson did not reply but his gaze was stuck to the screen as he saw the students act with a determined face. He said, “The face-off, begins. Show me what you are made of Shi Lang. Let me see your true worth.”