A Visitor to the Future - 112 - Elimination Round
We rushed back through the tournament complex to our next match, having barely stopped to see where our next opponent was on the wall - Team Catalyst. I found myself grateful that I had plenty of time to stay fit these days. Our ambassadors were catching us up as we moved - we'd devoted every spare minute in our area to making repairs.
"As a reminder," said Alexandra, "We're through the first round of the tournament, which now means we're in the elimination phase. That means if we lose a match now, we're out." She made a slashing motion with her hand before continuing. "Because we've done so well, we've been placed within the upper bracket - which is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it means that we have excellent intelligence on our opponents. On the other hand it means that our opponents are likely as skilled as we are."
"Sorry," I asked, "Why does being in the upper bracket mean we have better intelligence?"
Alexandra smiled, "Simple - we've been prioritizing spectating the winning teams. If a team won in round one, we were more likely to spectate them in round two, and so on. There are now eight teams - including us - who won all of their matches and were placed in the upper bracket. We've personally spectated five of those teams in matches, and we have solid leads on the other two. As for your opponents - Sarkona?"
Sarkona nodded, "I just finished watching Team Catalyst against the River Wardens in the last round, best we can tell. It was the same arena setup for all teams in round three. Here's the summary - Catalyst use quadrupedal Proxies, with one exception - one of them is set up in a sort of centaur-like configuration. They're agile, excellent at grappling opponents, oh, and the centaur-like one literally trampled one of the Wardens in the last round. They weren't showing any obvious weaknesses, although the centaur did take a nasty blow from one of the maze beasts - here."
Sarkona pointed between their shoulder blades and slightly off to the left.
"Although don't rely on that too much," continued Sarkona, "They could easily have fully repaired the damage by now - their victory was pretty decisive so they will definitely have had the time."
Antonia spoke up to contribute, "I found out that the Outcasts played against them in round one. From their account, it seems like Catalyst like to use decisive, group strikes - they don't seem to sneak around like the Poindexters or use scouting Proxies like the Castle Smashers. If they see a chance to hit you, I think they'll take it."
That was bad news - with the condition our Proxies were in, we had been hoping to pick off a straggler and gain an advantage from there. I looked at Gatecrash and Tungsten, concerned.
"We'll have to see what advantages the arena can afford us," said Tungsten, giving me a pat on the shoulder.
We quickly came to the door, and the others wished us luck as we made our way to our positions, waiting for the start of the round.
"Gatecrash," I asked, "Any tips for dealing with quadrupeds? Or centaurs for that matter?"
The CI had closed their eyes, lying back in their comfortable chair. They opened one and looked sideways towards me, hair dangling over the back of their chair, "I'm regretting that we didn't practice this. Quadrupeds tend to be a lot more stable - tripping them over or knocking them off balance is a lot more difficult. If we want to disable them, we'll have to focus on joints - but that's easier said then done, you know, given that having four legs increases that number. On the plus side it does mean they might find it harder to reach your upper body, so provided they don't drag you to the ground, your optics and head should be safe. As for fighting centaurs, I have absolutely no idea - can't say it ever crossed my mind before now!"
"You make a good point, though - the height difference for the quadrupeds," said Tungsten, "If their optics are lower down in the typical design of a hound or tiger, we should take advantage of any chance that we get have to hit them with a kick or swipe."
"Agreed, just don't overextend," acknowledged Gatecrash, "Getting yourself off balance would be just the opening they need to tackle you to the ground - that's where they'll be strongest. And don't be fooled by the quadrupedal design, they probably do still have opposable thumbs, so watch your vitals. Jaws are tournament-illegal for Proxies though, which I'm grateful for right now. Anyway, let's show the audience what we're capable of. Ready to link?"
I nodded, as the neural link connection began to take hold. and I began to look around the arena, which seemed distinctly space-themed. In front of us was what appeared to be an approximation of an asteroid field - realistic-looking asteroids were scattered across the entire arena in front of us, many of them twice to three times the size of our Proxies. I could see over some of them as they jutted out of the floor at an angle, and others, taller examples seemed to be orientated vertically and completely blocked my line of sight. The room seemed to be a half-dome speckled with decorated stars and nebulae, and the arena floor was a large circle easily a hundred metres in diameter speckled with what looked like dust and smaller rocks. All in all, it was far smaller than the maze-like arena of the last round, but the asteroids really broke up the space and obscured sight-lines.
The voice of the announcer radiated out across the arena, seemingly omnipresent. "Welcome back, teams and spectators! Our teams are now in the first match of the elimination bracket! In this upper bracket round, we can see Overgrown with Moss in verdant green face off against Team Catalyst in majestic bronze! Once again, we remind the audience - and our fantastic teams - that there are no second chances in these rounds - only one of these two teams will have the chance to continue their Resiliency streak! As for this arena, there is but one special condition here to watch out for - if you have the inclination! Do not fall into the water! Any Proxies in the water will be eliminated! Teams, good luck, have fun, and may the most resilient stand victorious! Begin!"
I briefly wondered whether the announcer had given us the wrong information - I didn't see any water to fall into. But no, I shut the thought down, remembering our experiences in the Foggy Shores arena. The tournament's organizers seemed determined to keep us on our toes and were willing to throw all sorts of hazards at us to make sure that was the case.