Artificial

The Maze: Phase 1

Operator Velox

All six of us stand on the podium in front of the crowd of Recruits. I scan the crowd, analyzing their expressions. Anxiety. Fear. Judgment. Reach and Shockwave are making love eyes at the edge of the stage. If they start making out again, I swear to god I will lose it. Ayala introduces each of us, and gives a quick overview of what we're capable of. I ignore most of it, until she says something that makes my blood run hot.
"They will be your opponents in this exercise."
Oh yeah, this should be interesting.
One Recruit speaks up, outraged.
"Are you shitting me? I just saw this bitch lift a fucking mech over her head and now I'm supposed to fight her?"
Ha. Welcome to the shit, Recruit. This is what you signed up for.
"Watch your language, Recruit! Of course I don't expect you to fight her."
Aw, boring.
"I expect you to run from her."
Oh my god, I can't fucking wait. Ayala, you're the best.
"Fuck."
"What did I just say!"
The Recruit shrinks into the crowd.
"Recruits, report to the killhouse. It has already been configured for the exercise."

I walk through the tunnel into the killhouse. All the lights are off. One by one they burst to life with a click, starting on the far side and coming towards me. The Recruits spin around in the dark, looking for some sort of guidance.
"Captain? Are you here?"
The tunnel doors slide shut behind me. The Recruits turn and look as the light above them finally illuminates their surroundings. They all fix their eyes on me. I crack my knuckles, then my neck.
"Run."
Most of them turn and sprint away, deeper into the maze. A few, however, stand and fight. How noble. Stupid, but noble.
Look at that, Vel, they're imitating you.
I see.
They all crack their knuckles as they approach, trying to intimidate me.
You know, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
They're wasting their time.
One of them comes at me. Stims flow.
Fuck, that's a rush. It's been too long.
You've got that right, love!
He throws a punch, but I grab his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. I pull him toward me, and slam my helmet into his, stunning him. I use the opportunity to trip him up, and he lands on his stomach. I bring my boot down on his helmet, and he stops moving.
Vel, behind you!
Another Recruit rushes me from behind, and tries to choke me out. I thrust my elbow into his stomach, then pull out of the choke and shove him backward, taking him off balance.
Nice try.
I waste no time, and punch him in the gut, opening a window for the finishing blow. I spin around, then drive my heel into the back of his head. He hits the ground hard, and doesn't get up. The other two finally rush me. One tries a full-blown dropkick, so I duck down and watch as he collides into his only teammate and takes her to the floor. I quickly stand and secure a Figure-Four Choke on the dropkicker, while his friend scrambles to her feet. I turn my victim away from his friend, then start using vicious kicks to keep her at bay while he falls unconscious. Finally, he slumps over, and I release him, then immediately jump into the air and put my boot into the other Recruit's face. She falls onto her side, and I kick her in the stomach before running off to catch the rest of the Recruits.

I turn corner after corner, running deeper and deeper into the maze. I hook a right, and see a door at the end of the hall, and a single Recruit lying on the floor. A group of Recruits begins pushing the door closed as the stranded Recruit scrambles to her feet and tries to catch up. The door slams in her face as she reaches it.
There's utter silence as I approach her.

"Oh my god, did they leave you behind?"
"Yeah," she responds, soft and fearful.
"Wow! What a bunch of assholes! What happened to 'no man left behind'?"
I sigh.
"Are you okay? What's your number?"
"Eight-Seven. I'm fine."
"Good."
Aww, Vel, she looks so sad.
"Hey, cheer up, it's gonna be okay. You want some gummy bears?"
The confused look on her face is priceless. The Grim Reaper just walked up to her and offered her candy.
"...sure."
I reach into an ammo pouch on my hip and retrieve an unopened bag of gummy bears.
"Here you go. Feel free to eat it all, I've got more."
"Thanks," she says as she removes her helmet. "Where did you keep these, exactly? Your armor's skintight."
"Don't worry about it. Now, I just need you to step out of the way for a second so that I can—"
I interrupt myself by punching through the reinforced steel door.
"What the fuck is she?" someone yells as I pull my arm back through the hole in the door.
I've gotta say, nothing anyone has said has ever made me feel more powerful.
I grasp the sides of the hole, and rip it open wide enough to poke my helmet through.
"Here's Velox!"
Then, the Recruit pokes her head through.
"You guys are fucked," she says, laughing.
I tear another chunk out of the door, and I hear someone run away from the door. A gunshot rings out, followed by a thud. A speaker in the next room crackles to life.
"Welcome to my domain, Recruits," Evo announces. "I thought by now you'd be tired of running through the maze, so I decided to take it easy on you. No more maze. The only thing standing between you and the next exit is me, my rifle, and a hundred meters of open ground."
Oh, that's evil, babe.
I continue ripping the door to pieces.
"Oh, and in case you're nervous, Velox will be there shortly to give you guys some encouragement."
Damn right.
As I rip out another chunk of metal, a group finally breaks. I hear their panicked running, cut short by Evo's rifle. A bang, then a thud, then a bang, then a thud, over and over again. I slide through the sizable hole in the door, and another group prepares to stand and fight.
Noble, noble idiots. Hopefully Ayala can do something with that bravery.

With the hostile Recruits suppressed, I ascend the stairs up to Evo, with Eight in tow.
"How many got through?"
"Three, by my count."
"You're getting rusty."
"No, I just know how much you love pummeling newbies."
"Just the ones that deserve it. This is Recruit Eight-Seven. I told her you'd tutor her."
"In what?"
"Shooting."
"Ahh. Can do."
He turns to Eight.
"C'mere and grab a rifle, you're gonna help me take out stragglers that come through late."