Chapter Four: First Battle at Starsea

Pilot neural synchronization stable at approximately ninety-one." "Faster than every mech I saw on Helios-9?" "Yes." "Good. That makes it interesting." From the instructor station, Harren spoke over an encrypted channel. "Voss, this is an unofficial academy challenge and will not count toward ranking. Astra-X's primary weapons are damaged. Unknown high-energy protocols are prohibited. You only need to complete basic mobility evaluation." Leon looked at Rafe's mech. The red-and-white frame had already lowered its center of gravity. A training electromagnetic blade shimmered along the spear tip. Rafe clearly had no intention of running a basic evaluation. He wanted to crush the frontier legend in front of the entire academy.