Chapter Four: First Battle at Starsea

The red-and-white mech lifted off the ground. Leon did not attack the chest or cockpit. He caught the Vanguard-S by the ankle, dragged it out of the air, and pinned it just inside the arena boundary. The main display flashed: "Destabilized." "Critical damage." "Cockpit exposure in live combat." "Winner: Leon Voss." Time: one minute, twelve seconds. The sound vanished from the stands. Rafe stared from inside his cockpit, a vein standing at his temple. He was the strongest heir of the Calder family generation. At fifteen, he had scored a simulated fleet kill. At seventeen, his synchronization had broken ninety. He had lost before, but never in a freshman exhibition to a twenty-three percent nobody. Leon released him.