“How you feeling? Should we wait to continue?”

“I have a feeling I won’t do as well if weapons are involved. How about we move over to the battle simulation area and try and get some constructs to test our teamwork.”

“Sounds good to me. I think it would probably be more constructive.”

Jester looked up and away from us towards the direction we came in. “Erin please send in a random construct pack. Preferably close quarters units.”

We didn’t have to wait long. Something like a cross between a jaguar and a gorilla came charging over the rise. Looked to be 4 of them headed this way. You would think with all that mass up front they would be slower, but these were way faster than a sprinting horse. They pushed hard off the cat-like legs and then used their more dexterous front ‘arms’ to control the landing and redirect the lower body for the next push. “Things like these exist in the SpEc Zones? These things look freaking dangerous.”

“Typical Monday...well or a Thursday, definitely not a Tuesday though.”

“Are Tuesdays worse?”

“Yes”

By now, the monsters had closed the distance. Giving an idea of how big this area was. We didn’t have any more time to idly chat. I brought up just one emitter in a two-handed grip. I produced a tower shield, designed to be placed at an angle to the ground to mitigate a potential crashing direct force. I realized my mistake as this gorjuarilla dead stopped in front of me and then aimed to bring both arms down on the shield. I collapsed the shield and rolled to the side. It repositioned to track me. I produced another shield exactly like the first and tried to bait another haymaker smash. The gorjuarilla took the bait, and I switched the shield projection at the last moment, turning it into a series of spear-like projections from the ground. This was great in theory, but despite the now impaled arms it just got more wild in its behavior. I again collapsed the Aether projection. I decided to go for a large 2 handed sword projection. It started to move back. I stepped in to cut at its arms. I thought I had missed, but it appeared the reach was a little better than I thought. It reeled back as the flesh split open on both its arms. Its head lifted up and back as it howled. I dove in another step and converted my emitter into the pile driver power gauntlet, and fired it off under the head of the gorjuarilla a perfectly executed rising uppercut with an explosive finish. Its head was on its way back down when it met the rising fist. The piston fired off just as its head started to rest on the fist. The maximized transference of force crumpled its skull. It started to slump forward and I had to hop back out of the way, but still tripped. “It was at that moment that he knew that he fucked up.” I thought to myself as my brain registered a second one moving in to slam my face into a colorful spray on the ground. I tried to create a brace of armor between me and the very angry gorjuarilla, an improvised shield using the emitter. I didn’t exactly succeed, but I did deflect the fist into my shoulder. That is when I learned what the setting on the simulation was for damage. It was at hurt o’clock. A blistering crushing force of pain blinded me for a moment. Enough for me to be slow to use that arm. I could tell it wasn’t broken as I could see a field of energy flash around my shoulder, but I was certainly hurt and feeling it.

“Testing the Aether barrier? That wasn’t on purpose right?”

I looked over my right shoulder to see Jester standing there with a shit-eating grin on his face. “It was on purpose. Totally on purpose. Just had to see that everything worked.”

“That would be your ambient Aether barrier. The simulation field provides the basic protection against these things, but you're still going to be bruised and feeling it. You won’t die, so there’s that. Give us a good show or Exxes is going to have an identity crisis over you beating her.”

“Great. No pressure then. This is my first time you know!” I mock indignantly yelled at him. The gorjuarilla was clearly trying to decide if it could move in to finish me off as Jester was watching on.

The A.I. for these things was particularly awesome. Props given to the game developers for pushing those envelopes. It bought me a few moments. My shoulder was still stiff, but I was feeling a little sheepish, seeing how Jester was clearly finished with his two. Time to get creative. I picked up my emitter off the ground having dropped it during the life lesson I just had. I pulled out the second one. I taunted the gorjuarilla. Showing that I was clearly going to fight it. It roared in a weird combination of a gorilla bellow and a jaguar wail. Yeah, I was keeping the name. It took a cross swing at me, and I intercepted. This time I brought up a smaller buckler like shield, in the hand that was on the same side the swing was coming from. At the exact moment the shield caught the blow, I shoved the second emitter up to the arm and activated it in the shape a crescent moon punching dagger. The arm deflected behind me as it continued past me, cleanly severed. The gorjuarilla lost balance but lashed out. I turned and dove away as it swung its good arm after me. Realizing I was wasting time and energy fighting these things like sentient humans, It was time to just go for the kill. I placed one emitter in the clip on my side. Holding one in a 2 handed grip, I attempted to create a greatsword version of a billhook and was pleasantly rewarded with something very similar to my imagination. It was one part cleaver, one part billhook, and all greatsword. I took a Posta di Falcone and brought the sword down with my back step, as the gorjuarilla tried to take out its frustration out on me. My Aether projection cleaved down through its head with little resistance. It clearly connected as the blue glowing liquid of the gorjuarilla poured out all over the ground in front of me before starting to dissipate.

I felt sheepish for how I started the fight. I really should have gone for a killing blow both times. I knew I had a long way to go before I could face these things down quickly and efficiently. I had some bad habits I needed to break. These were the new rules of engagement.

Lost in my own headspace I hadn’t noticed that Exxes returned. The back of my head instantly knew when she smacked it though. Reeling from the open-handed smack to the back of my head I frustratedly turned around to bark at Jester but instead came face to face with Exxes.

“That was pathetic. I guess your experience stops at fighting humans and humanoids. Guess we get to train you after all. Erin run that from the top.” She turned back to us. “You boys step back and watch a pro.” We watched 4 gorjuarillas come charging from the same hillcrest. Exxes pulled out her emitter and made a sickle-like shape with her blade. She ran to meet them to keep them from engaging us. The first one just crashed forward and slid headless as she rolled under its shoulder. She had aimed for the point it was coming down on its arms and took its head. The two behind it started to circle around her. She jumped back towards one, and it went to slam it’s arms down on her. It instead seemed to lose its head as it fell forward, not finding support from its now severed arms. The one she jumped away from, shot forward at her. A spray of blue Aether gunk spilled out of it as it had been bisected during its jump. She got up off her knees to address the last one that was angrily charging at her but at a much more measured pace. She danced to the side, clipping off one of its arms on the downswing and its leg on the upswing. It crashed into the ground. She skipped over to where it was struggling to get up and removed its skull cap. It stopped struggling. “That boys is how you do it.”

Jester huffed at the display. “Great job, Exxes. You killed things. You still don’t know how to work as a team.” I could tell Jester was not a fan of this side of Exxes.

“You’re just mad that I killed four in the time it took you to kill two.” Exxes sneered clearly misunderstanding Jester’s frustration.

There was a sternness to Jester’s eyes. He turned towards me. “How many do you want to face at once, or would you like them funneled to you, one at a time?”

“Can you get them in a straight line with less than a foot deviation?”

“Yes”

“Let’s do that. I want to try something.”

“Erin from the top please, times two.”

“I think I can manage two groups… if this works. Can I count on you for backup?”

“Your plan. Call it as you need it.”

The gorjuarillas came all at once. 8 angry Aether constructs barreling at us. I grabbed both emitters and held the ‘front end’ of the experiment with my left hand. My engraph unit. I tried to interface the units and bridge them together through the new functionality of my engraph unit, its wireless connectivity seemed to work like a charm. I held the units like a rifle while they were stacked up against each other. I aim down the line of their frame. I visualize one of them providing the energy for the magnetic fields of a rail gun, and the second one providing the structure. I get the processes linked up and the visualization takes over. The projection isn’t any bigger than a typical sniper rifle, but I can feel the Aether building up in the chamber and the fields. It visually solidifies. The field generators start arcing at the increased load on the emitters. “I think I may only have one shot at this! Get them lined up.” I started to take stock of the field down range. My moments of preparation, have been productive for Jester as well. They were forming up into a perfectly straight line, they couldn’t look more regimented. You would swear, they could win ‘best in show’ at a gorjuarilla show, with how well they were lined up. I could see Jester Peppering them with fire that just grazed their skin anytime they deviated in the slightest from the designated single file procession.

“I do believe this is what you ordered?”

“Taking the shot.” Simpler said than done. I had the shot lined up, now it was time to fire it. I charged up the magnetic fields to what I felt was the safety limit for the construct. I parsed a chunk of hardened, crystalized Aether as the slug. I mentally loaded it into the firing chamber and squeezed the trigger in my mind’s eye. The recoil from the shot added to the emitters quite literally blowing up in my face, I was knocked on my ass, but that shot flew true. It was more powerful than I thought I could manage with an emitter, but clearly, that had consequences.

“Wow... Now that’s some punch!” Jester was whooping it up.

I decided to sit up and take a look at what the fallout was. “Not a particular practice I recommend, but it seemed to work out.” Looking down the line I could see the line of carcasses of a glowing mess of Aether constructs. A furrow plowed straight through them with seemingly no resistance. “Yikes. That seems particularly effective. Great work Jester.”

“You too. Excellent usage of your tools. I didn’t even think something like that could be possible.”

“I didn’t either! I thought it might work though as Erin clued me into engraphs just being a specialized focus. I figured, maybe I can link them together.”

Exxes butted in, “That wasn’t just a doubled up shot? You made a rail gun on a nonspecific focus device?”

“Not really? I mean yes, but I just constructed it through visualization using one, and then just powered it through the other one. Just using the two emitters in parallel, to minimize the potential for loss and/or wasted Aether.”

Now it was Jester’s turn to be surprised. “Holy shit, I don’t think anyone has tried something like that. Most people would count that as horribly ineffective. I think they just lack imagination. That was an insane amount of firepower.”

“You are remembering the part where it literally blew me off my feet when it blew up in my face right? I highly don’t recommend that. It worked for sure, but that’s definitely a one-off. I also don’t think I should precharge it as much as I did. Probably prevent the whole blowing up part of it. I just wasn’t sure I could get through all 8 though.”

Erin’s bodiless voice rang out from everywhere. “Let’s call it there for the moment. I think we can work on some rig customization for Wolfe. I am thinking he will gain more out of starting at a rigging level. He has shown remarkable talent. Come on back.”

Exxes was clearly a little annoyed at being shown up. “It took two of you to kill 8. I hardly call that a win.”

Jester was clearly incensed over this. “Exxes, you don’t seem to get it through your thick head! I know what you can do. I don’t doubt your talent, but you lack the ability to lead or work with a team. It would have taken either of us significantly longer to kill 8 then it did for you to kill 4 if it was just us by ourselves. We worked together though and got 8 down in the same time it took you to kill 4. The reason I was put here, the most decorated second in command, was to help you learn teamwork! Because right now you are a liability. I’m not here for him. I’m here for you. I’m here to give you a second chance. Keep screwing up like this and you’re getting busted down two ranks.”

I just didn’t know how to respond to that, so I headed for the plate first. AWK-ward.