The week ahead was a brutal mix of training and tweaking. Every second of the schedule was carefully planned and maintained with the help of Tomás and Park, especially with Park having expertise by proxy from their instructor's heritage.
However, the accident with Doran had left a harsh reminder that power without control was just another way to fall short. In response to the hard lesson, Osei, Miller, and I took a much more hands-on approach in our styles of teaching.
Ether Strike training was restricted to the small group who had already begun making progress: myself, Sato, two of Miller's Vanguard pilots. Everyone else was pulled back to fundamentals.
The first two days were the hardest.
Sato managed to get a clean release on the third attempt on the second day. It wasn't strong, but it was controlled. He whooped loud enough that half the yard turned to look.
"See? Told you I was talented."
"The only thing you're talented at is making noise," Jin muttered from across the ring.
"I heard that, asshole!" Sato yelled back across the yard.
"You were supposed to."
Miller watched from the edge of the training area with his arms crossed. He never joined the Ether Strike group again after the first day. Instead, he drilled his Vanguard relentlessly on shield rotations and heavy engagement patterns. I respected the decision; Miller knew both his strengths and his squad.
Osei, on the other hand, threw himself into coordination drills. His deviation was the platoon's greatest asset, and he knew it. By the third day, we were running full-platoon movement exercises where Osei's network fed real-time positioning data through his link. We had gotten some practice using it in the simulation prior, but it was still a little clumsy.
I chalked it up to Osei not being used to connecting to so many people at once, even with the extra set of eyes and hands in Ren and Tomás. The mental load must have been overbearing. But slowly, painfully and surely we were starting to move as a singular organism, something even the Buggers wouldn't turn their… Noses? Mandibles? Up at.
The simulation training, in particular, highlighted Osei's value. Especially after he had begun to get the hang of dealing with such a large volume. But as we got better, the simulations got harder. Okafor, in our morning slot, had started to incorporate actual enemy combatants into the mix. Where we once were fighting pretend enemies in a pretend battlefield, we now had to actually fight simulated mechs.
The initial engagements were arduous, often resulting in the platoon being pushed far beyond its limits, even though in the early attempts we vastly outnumbered our foes. The jump from moving around and pretending to real combat was a chasm we were not prepared for.
Yet there was a golden light in the darkness. Tomás's predictive models, combined with Osei's coordination. It was a massive band-aid to our inexperience, the two working in tandem to make sure that we were in the right place at the right time.
I spent most of my time split between three things: refining my own Ether Strike, drilling my Flanking squad on disruption and hit-and-run tactics, and watching the platoon like a hawk.
Ren proved to be a gift, with his Ether Sensitivity being absurdly high; the pace at which the squad was able to pick up Ether Strike was remarkable. He became the unofficial instructor for the small Ether Strike group, calmly correcting timing and flow, despite being unable to utilise the skill for himself.
By day four, three more pilots had managed clean releases. The technique was still dangerous, still exhausting, and still limited by our low Ether stats. But it was progress. In total, we had around five pilots who were able to utilise the ability, with pretty much all of the users coming out of the flanking element. We had created a faux version of exactly what we had been taught since we first arrived, the hammer and anvil.
But that's where most progress stalled out, the remaining individuals that were interested in learning the skill didn't have the stats or skill to utilise the skill at all. Those who did either didn't have the capacity or found different avenues of progression that they were working on. I had managed to get the strike down nine times out of ten, but it was still incredibly draining to use to its fullest potential.
Aside from Ether Strike, the regimen that we had created had also borne fruit in levels. I had managed to level up twice in the span of five days, which almost matched the pace I was getting experience from the Exhibition. I placed a good portion of my new stats into Ether Capacity while also suring up my other physical stats.
The boost in capacity allowed me to utilise the Ether Strike five times in an engagement before being fully drained, with my overall control of the skill rising with every day from both practice and additional input from Ren.
At the end of the fifth day, I opened up my stat page.
[TRUE-NOOSPHERE]
[CONNECTION THRESHOLD: 6.74%]
[LEVEL: 21]
[EXPERIENCE: 304 / 900]
[RANK: 0]
[RANK PROGRESSION: 21 / 100]
[STAT POINTS AVAILABLE: 0]
[BODY]
Strength: 28 → 30
Agility: 31 → 32
Vitality: 33
[ETHER]
Capacity: 3 → 6
Sensitivity: 3 → 4
Control: UNLOCKED
[MIND]
Willpower: 22
Intelligence: 17
Perception: 21
[Skills]
[FRAMEWORK SKILLS]
[PASSIVES — ACTIVE]
— Neural Link Stabilisation. Reduced input lag on all mech controls.
— Ether Cycling Support. Automatic baseline circulation while active.
[SKILLS — LOAD COMPLETE, INTEGRATION PENDING]
— Vanguard Stance. Strength-weighted. Offensive posture. +5% activation, ramps to +25%. Ether cost per activation.
— Warden Stance. Vitality-weighted. Defensive posture. +5% activation, ramps to +25%. Ether cost per activation.
[OTHER SKILLS]
[ACTIVE SKILLS]
— Ether Strike: A regular strike filled with Ether that deals enhanced damage. Scales off Strength and Ether Control.
I looked over my stat page. I was starting to become a true jack of all trades. All I needed to do was equalise my ether stats with my physical and mental stats. I had also managed to receive a free stat in Ether Sensitivity from my training, which had a great benefit in how I felt the Ether flow through my body while using the skills.
Though I didn't manage to get to a place where I felt that using mechs in anamnesis would be beneficial, I did make some good progress on my Echo. Constant fighting in the downtime and the additions to my stats were bridging the gap between the two of us, to the point where I could land a couple of good blows when we fought, but it never did end in a victory for me.
The slight shifts in my fighting style were noticed and picked up by the likes of Tomás, who found it rather intriguing. I was half tempted to start sparring with Miller to see how well I'd fare now, but that was a test for after the first fight. That and I wasn't sure if I could win.
On the sixth day, I gathered the entire platoon after evening chow.
We stood in the training yard under the harsh compound lights. The air was cool, and most of us were still sore from the day's drills.
"I want to be clear about something," I said. "Our first engagement is in two days. We're not going to win it by being the strongest or the fastest. We're going to win it by being smarter than the other side."
I looked around the circle.
"Most platoons coming out of basic training rely on rotations. They fight in neat little patterns because that's what they've been drilled on for six months. That's their strength — and their weakness."
I gestured to Miller.
"Vanguard is going to hit like a hammer. But we're not going to let the enemy dictate the terms. Osei's coordination will keep us connected. My Flanking squad will hit the edges, create openings, and pull their attention. Support will keep us alive and fed with targeting data."
I paused, letting the words settle.
"What we have is each other. And we're going to use that."
Miller gave a short nod. Osei's expression didn't change, but I saw the slight tilt of his head.
"Alright, now that I have your attention. Let's figure out the battle plan. Tomás, Park, who is our first opponent, and how do they fight?"