Due to the end of the last game earlier than expected, T

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Team E found themselves with a lot of free time. They decided to spend about half an hour in the hall watching the other teams face off. However, they don't do it for fun. They are now in the top 156 of the big city Dave-16 and can no longer compete blindly, knowing nothing about their opponents. The first round against the Galactic Murder Force proved that this ignorance can be a serious obstacle.

Of course, it's common sense to deal with any competition, but Maggie, Joe, and his friends are all competing for the first time. They have a lot to learn, but that doesn't stop them from giving it their all. If anything, it is that it only motivates a particular member more. That's why they'll use their rare respite in almost back-to-back matches to study their next potential opponent. It was a diligent and responsible thing to do, although none of them particularly liked what they saw.

T

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e's next opponent is Qua

tum C

usade

s, and they are the real opponents. They are a promising team of professional wandering bees, and that shows in their performances. They are very organized, efficient, and clearly not members of the amateur league. They possess rigorous skills and precise teamwork, and can even eliminate opponents faster than "Three Fires" won their last outing. However, the Quantum Crusade chooses a safe and painful method, ruthlessly cornering their opponents, grinding them into dust and not giving them any chance to turn things around. As one would expect from a group of professionals, they never take risks.

Joe's team was frustrated at the thought of having to deal with those guys. Quantum Crusade is just too out of place to be funny at all. If they were both graceful sharpshooters like Maggie, they might have a fair chance, but apparently that wasn't the case. Their chances of reaching the quarterfinals seem slim. Even Joe was aware of the obvious hopelessness of their situation, though he didn't seem to bother at all.

"Oh, well, what can you do?" He shrugged. "It's really bad luck to face such a guy."

"Tell me, man. Pros really deserve to have their own games, you know?" Benny complained.

"What they do. It's called Blastopia, and we're in it. ”

“…… Right. ”

They all know what they're signing up for, which is why they set their sights on the top eight in the first place. In a sense, this upcoming match could be their championship final.

“A

I hope you scoundrels are willing to go out and fight!" Cullen is immersed in the chaotic pirate role of his time. "I don't belong to any cowardly coward!"

"Damn it!" Huey nodded vigorously. "We can at least beat them to the ground!"

"What's in it for us to give them an eye organ?"

Maggie's painfully honest and somewhat worrisome question immediately broke the tension that had been standing there.

"In other words, Maggie," Joe interjected as usual. "Meaning we're not going to retreat without a fight."

"I understand. I'm also looking forward to being a part of this fun pastime. ”

"What's that pastime, Maggs?" Benny asked with a confused smirk.

"The human tendency to persevere in the struggle regardless of the futility of their actions."

Oh......"

These words, to say the least, did not boost the morale of the crew.

"What she meant was that she was going to give it her all for this game, and so should we," Joe tried to salvage. "Don't give up halfway, right, Maggie?"

"Indeed," the girl nodded. "I don't subscribe to the concept of 'half-time.'" If one thing is worth doing, use the whole ass. If it's not worth it, don't use the ass. ”

"Hah! Voila," Cullen said with a laugh, breaking his character.

Huey just shook his head, "That...... There is no right to say that it makes so sense. ”

"To be fair, I don't think Maggs ever missed anything." Benny shrugged.

It's not the kind of inspirational speech that people usually think of, but her words do serve to motivate others. They don't think they're going to win all of a sudden. All they can do is do their best and leave with dignity. After all, what they end up playing is a game that has unique characteristics that make even failure enjoyable. In short, the team has quietly shifted their goal from "winning games" to "let's have fun", which is the fundamental purpose of their efforts in the beginning.

Therefore, T

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Team E made it to their first round against the Quantum Crusade, and they can't wait to give those pros a chance. The virtual stage of this game is a dense area of asteroids filled with randomly drifting mini-mountains. Visibility was low, space was limited, and heavy metals inside the rocks interfered with the ship's instruments. It's an environment that makes it difficult for players to locate their opponents and makes ambushes a real threat, even though the opposite is also true.

"All right, ladies! Let's see if we can catch those bastards. ”

Huey, as captain, began to call the shots as soon as the game began.

"Benny, try to draw a route to where they started. Joe, Cullen and I went to cover him. Mags, we're counting on you to scout ahead and report as soon as you spot their ship. It's not too far, though. Up to five hundred meters. ”

"Admit it. Short-range reconnaissance exercises began. ”

Wanderers like Maggie are crucial in this alignment. Usually her job is to harass the enemy's flanks, put pressure on their support ships, and at the same time repel enemy rovers. This is still true to some extent, but her priority is to determine the enemy's position and guide her allies to a favorable position for engagement. Maneuverability and stealth are more important than firepower, which is why she did not drive her usual boat.

FR-501 "Scalewi in the shape of an arrow

g" has been shelved and replaced by R4-94 "Bumblebee". The ship has a short, thick, and round fuselage, a bit like its name. A total of 12 small boosters are evenly distributed over the hull, allowing for fast turns and all-round movement. The downside of this engine setup is that it has a significantly lower cruise speed than a similar Scalewi

g, although that doesn't matter in these confined spaces.

As usual, Maggie chose a ship that was best suited for the situation. Considering the hundreds of options available, this is not a simple task. The choice is further complicated by the fact that each ship can be equipped with dozens of available weapons and modules. For a person capable of calculating atoms, choosing the optimal setting from those seemingly endless possibilities is a trivial matter. Similarly, flying an omnidirectional vehicle effectively is definitely not a challenge for Maggie, although it is widely accepted that it is a difficult skill to master.

In fact, the way her bumblebee moves freely and gracefully between large rocks is a sight to behold. That's why the broadcast of the match focused on her craft at that moment. These "hide-and-seek" games can sometimes drag on for 10 to 15 minutes before the first shot is fired, so the organizers use her skillful driving skills as supplementary entertainment. They even showed her virtual self in the cockpit, which was a spectacle in itself. She quickly adjusts the joystick, flicks the switch, presses the button, and lets her boat dance to her tune, which is very satisfying.

Of course, every player on the enemy team was treated similarly. Quantum Crusade are promising professionals with their own following, so it's only natural that people want to see them. That is, they are a bunch of guys wearing flight suits with logos on them, and sunhats that cover their faces. From a purely visual point of view, the cute girl with her hair tentacles with quirky eye decorations is much more interesting and attractive. So, at that point in time, most of the attention of the audience watching the game was focused on Maggie. She seems to sense this, as she occasionally glances at the virtual camera on the dashboard.

After about eight minutes of intense play, the girl's attention immediately became sharp as a razor.

"Report possible engine exhaust emissions," she told her allies about her findings.

"Roger." Huey confirmed. "Cold."

Since the enemy may be nearby, the entire team lowered the engine output to reduce the risk of detection. Except, of course, for Maggie. She replaced the ship's force field transmitter with an internal radiator that masked the ship's energy signals even when it was running at full speed. Considering that her on-board computer did not detect any traces of heat, she assumed that the enemy ship was doing something similar. As metal-rich asteroids disrupted the radar system, she had to rely on visual contact in almost complete darkness. Luckily, she's The Observer, so the lack of light has a much bigger impact on her eyesight. Alternatively, she can use her technical magic – as Joe calls it – to pinpoint the enemy team right from the start. However, this blatantly unfair approach is against the rules and, more importantly, ruins her pleasure.

However, despite Maggie's intention to play as fair as possible, she can't help but react with superhuman speed when her console sounds an incoming projectile warning. She coaxed her ship to make a sudden ninety-degree turn so that it could face two incoming missiles head-on. Her front-mounted high-intensity laser detonated the ammunition seconds before it exploded, flashing a dazzling red. The explosion itself was silent, but shamprapnel bounced off the unshielded hull of her Hornet, making a piercing grinding and clanging sound.

"Ran into the enemy," she calmly reported. "Two fighter-class rovers in my place."

"Two?!" Huey shouted involuntarily. "Explosion! They've got us!"

In fact, given the importance of this role, the Quantum Crusade opted to deploy additional scouts. T

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E considered doing the same, but frankly, their members didn't have the flexibility to restructure the team as quickly as that. Pros, on the other hand, are clearly trained to do at least in every position. As for their goal, their goal is clearly to eliminate the enemy's rover in order to give themselves an early lead. They even expected their target to use a radiator on the shield launcher and equipped their aircraft accordingly.

"Hold on, Maggs!" We're on our way!"

As a result, Maggie is forced to dodge a salvo of Vulcan cannons that would directly penetrate her armored hull. Her bumblebee suddenly jetted to the left, dodging the large-caliber ammunition that devoured the boulder next to her. Her opponents immediately caught up, but their R4-31 Hornet model spacecraft had a conventional engine setup and could not keep up with her all-round maneuverability. She's also hard to pin down. The bulky-looking thing bobbed back and forth through their artillery fire, like out of a ridiculous action movie.

The hornet ran towards it, shaking off its pursuers for the time being, but in doing so, it fell into a trap. The bullets from the two rovers did not scratch Maggie's ship, but at the same time led her into a rocky corridor generously decorated with automatic turrets. She immediately deduced that they had been placed there by enemy support ships, meaning that it had most likely sacrificed some other core function in favor of deployable weapons. She reported the situation to her teammates, and her ship's lasers swept through and destroyed most of the guns before they had a chance to fire. The few remaining sentries began to shoot at her hull, but there were no real problems with their relatively small caliber and unguided targets.

"Wait...... There!" Huey shouted through the communication. "The enemy can see it! Title five-oh-seve

All ships - engaged! Maggs, keep those two busy when we deal with these three!"

"But, well, you can turn them into dust if you can," Joe interjected.

"yes, don't wait for our accounts." Benny did the same.

"Teach them a good lesson, Magus!" Karen cheered.

"Admit it. Start searching and destroying. ”

When the girl pulled back the two flying sticks with exaggerated movements, the crowd watching the melee was excited. Her ship took off with a thud, the light from the engine drawing a perfect semicircle, and the ship was positioned to meet the two incoming fighters. After a few seconds, she began to dodge enemy Hornet fire and missiles again, but this time Hornet was faster. Now that stealth is no longer a factor, Maggie turns off the ship's radiators and diverts energy to the engines and weapons.

Speaking of which, the girl felt it was time to fight back. Her ship turned around without changing course, firing dual lasers at the nearest enemy. Of course, the energy flow is connected together, but is deflected by its force field. The pilot tried to get out of the way in a maneuvering way. His agility in navigating tight spaces is top-notch, considering his aircraft is not suited to that cramped environment, but it can't be counted on par with Maggie's. The way her bumblebee moves seems to be such that its rotation is completely independent of its flight path. It's surreal, like a turret gliding on an unseen track. This allowed her laser to continue to burn through her target's shield, despite his best efforts, and she had been dodging the fire that the other person was trying to cover.

Thankfully, for the Quantum Crusaders, Maggie's "Thorn" failed to break through the fighter's shield before her dual lasers were turned off to prevent overheating. Considering that this was an opportunity to attack, the fighter, which was almost baked, turned around and aimed at the target with his front-mounted Vulcan cannon. Or at least that's his intention, but he's lost his purpose for the time being. His teammates shouted a warning to him to look down, but it was too late.

The bumblebee's bulbous back crashes into the bumblebee's smooth abdomen. The shield of the latter was calibrated to deflect kinetic energy weapons, not large objects, and therefore could not prevent collisions between hulls. Maggie activates the thrusters at full speed at the point of impact, pushing both ships away with explosive force. "Punch after punch" was enough to get Bumblebee out of control. Despite the pilot's best efforts, it crashed into the side of a nearby asteroid. This caused the ship to suffer heavy damage and almost impossible to function. One of its four main engines was completely damaged, severely limiting its speed and maneuverability. Instead of finishing the broken ship, Maggie turns around and engages another ship. Of course, her own ship suffered a lot of damage in that impact. Its mobility was negatively affected, but she was able to compensate for it with a little extra effort. She kept circling the poor fool for a few seconds until her laser cooled down, at which point she began to roast him.

Meanwhile, the rest of Maggie's team is engaged in a four-on-three battle with the remaining ships of the Quantum Crusade. One had to give it to the pros, who fought fiercely despite being outnumbered. However, their support ship had to abandon its cyber warfare suite in order to bring those deployable sentinels. This allows Benny's ship to hack into its onboard computer, triggering a surge of energy that paralyzes its shield and engine for a few seconds. T

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E's interceptors, Joe and Huey, gave an active push to the other two enemy ships and shot down easy targets. They targeted and destroyed its cargo hold, destroying its stockpiles, drones, and other supplies.

This puts the Quantum Crusaders in a precarious position. One of their rovers is crippled, the other is hopeless in the confrontation with Maggie, and their support ship has been reduced to a glorious space truck. In this case, in order to save time and energy, they decided to grit their teeth and abandon the round. They also need to revise their strategies. In the final game, the players had their coach scout their opponents instead of them, and the coach considered Maggie to be the most troublesome member of the "triple fire". Therefore, they try to cornering her and eliminate her in order to ensure victory.

Needless to say, this plan had a huge counterproduct. Maggie hasn't had a chance to show off her incredible driving skills yet, so Quantum Crusade underestimates her. They likewise misjudged the girl's other teammates. While they look easy to beat compared to Mags, Joe and his buddies are actually very proficient in U

-Yo-Bee。 They certainly didn't reach the professional level, but they had a solid enough foundation not to lose in the face of a numerical advantage. Their sense of gameplay is also on point, as they are able to spot the workhorse of the Quantum Crusade without any help from the rover. Therefore, professionals believe that it is better to focus on them first, and then deal with ace pilots last.

However, for better or worse, they will never have a chance to test this theory.

"Unqualified?!" Huey screamed at the top of his throat. "What do you mean by being unqualified?!"

An officer from Blastopia showed up at T during a break between rounds

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e's staging area, the news he brought was very depressing.

"That's what it sounds like, Mr. Peterson," the man said firmly.

"What?!"

"Suspected use of performance-enhancing third-party software and/or virtual pod modifications."

The officer didn't say anything more, but the way he looked at Maggie made it clear what he meant. She showed superhuman reflexes and driving ability, which led Blastopia's organizers to believe that she was artificially improving her skills with the methods described above. This is the equivalent of doping in virtual reality, which is clearly not allowed in a highly competitive environment.

"But this is just speculation, not confirmed!" Huey. "You can't kick us out because of this!"

In fact, the organizers are not 100% sure of their accusations. None of the tools and means they used to detect cheating found any specific information about Maggie. This means one of two situations – she's really that ridiculous, or she's using some hitherto unknown deception. One of them is more likely to happen than the other. Not to mention that she logged in as an anonymous guest of Joe Mulligan. That wasn't a violation of the rules of the game in itself, but it did make her even more skeptical.

Therefore, the officials of Blastopia chose to err on the side of caution and put a stop to everything that was happening, although they had to make sure that doing so did not cause a commotion.

"Look, Mr. Peterson. We can use the easy way or the difficult way. The easiest thing to do is if you voluntarily quit the game and we keep it a secret. The difficulty was that we suspended the game and allowed the police to investigate your team's activities, background and equipment in depth. It's a hunch, so to speak, but I have a feeling that they're going to find a way to get one or all of you into trouble. ”

Huey glared at the man, and the others looked concerned. Their captain didn't know that Maggie had made a "custom modification" of Joe's cabin, but everyone else knew. They are well aware that the girl is very averse to lying and deception, and she will never engage in such activities. However, as the official said, the authorities will definitely make a fuss about that pod.

As for Huey, he just glanced at his team's uneasiness and decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

"All right," he relented. "We're going to give up this game."

"Thank you for your cooperation," the official said dryly.

"At least can we watch the rest of the game?"

"Of course."

"And what about next year?" Will we be able to compete then?"

The man paused for a moment to think about it and sighed before answering.

"Technically, yes. Since your disqualification is unofficial, we cannot ban you from participating in the future. Please note that we will not be so lenient if something like this happens again. ”

"This ...... Fair enough, I guess. ”

"Now, before I leave, are there any questions?"

The man looked at the rest of the team and saw that the main suspect had raised his arm.

"Yes, miss?"

He thought she wanted to refute the accusations and waste his time, but it wasn't. Maggie can't do this in good conscience because she did go too far on impulse. The organizer's fears were completely correct, and she was completely wrong. She also doesn't plan to admit it publicly, mainly because she's worried that it will cause trouble for Joe. Some would say that her silence was an innegligent lie, but this stranger gave her a certain "relief" in this regard.

"I would like to confirm the terms of this agreement," she said bluntly. "We will not disclose the reason for our withdrawal from the competition. In exchange, you will not take any legal action against us. ”

"yes, that's the point."

"This is the end of the agreement."

There was a very brief moment when her virtual self was flickering. The official was a little surprised, but he just thought it was either a malfunction in her avatar or some cheating trick she used. She said the way the agreement was made was also strange. In any case, he maintained his professional demeanor, and after confirming that there were no other problems, he left the digital hangar.

"What a complete asshole!" Huey immediately cursed. "I know what the hell is going on!" Because we scolded the so-called pros so badly that they were afraid of losing to a bunch of nobodies like us! So they called their sponsors and asked them to put pressure on the organizers! And here we are, being beaten up because of the preference of big corporations!"

He then published a lengthy tirade that quickly evolved into a full-blown conspiracy theory. He does this a lot, especially on certain message boards. The rest of the gang was familiar with Huey's side and knew not to take him seriously, but their personal involvement made it hard to disagree with what he had to say. It is much easier for them to blame some unknown company for their misfortune than it is to confront the disturbing reality that Mags may be involved in something shady.

The "main suspect" eventually left the hangar altogether. Huey gushed out a barrage of baseless accusations, ridiculous assumptions, and logical fallacies, and she was in no mood to deal with them. Maggie was already ambivalent about the whole thing. On the one hand, she disqualified her team and ruined their ambitions, even if they were insignificant. On the other hand, even if they are allowed to continue playing, they are unlikely to win a best-of-five game. Perhaps, she thought thoughtfully, it would be better that way. Humans, especially Joe, would feel better about their misfortune if they realized that the source of their misfortune was beyond their control.

When she entered the competition hall, these were inconsequential thoughts that swirled around her expansive mind. Almost immediately, she found herself surrounded by crowds congratulating her on her victory and praising her incredible driving skills. She doesn't usually care about strangers' opinions, but it feels good to get a little recognition. Later, news began circulating about her team's withdrawal for "personal reasons", and bystanders began to ask her about it. Maggie had a duty of confidentiality to keep the details confidential, so she was neither willing nor elaborated.

At the very least, the crowd didn't seem to harbor any ill will towards the sudden defeat. There may be some viewers who suspect that something unseemly has happened, just like the organizers. However, if there are such bystanders, they are either not in the hall or keep their opinions to themselves. For the most part, viewers are simply disappointed that they didn't see more of Maggie's great action, and after saying their work, they go back to what they were doing. Some even asked for signatures, but were immediately denied. In their ignorance, they do not realize the significance of this behavior for cosmic beings from beyond the Veil. Maggie doesn't mind them taking selfies with her avatars, though.

When everything begins to calm down, the girl's eyes are drawn to the home screen. It was playing the highlights of the match so far, and she couldn't help noticing that she was on it. Despite her disqualification, organizers did not seem upset about highlighting her exploits in promotional materials. In this particular example, they show a dramatic replay of her bumblebee flying into the blind spot of an enemy bumblebee and then crashing it into a rock wall. Like the norm for this type of footage, there is a pilot camera in the corner of the video.

This caught Maggie's attention. What she saw there was strange, bizarre, and perhaps even surreal. Although her virtual spaceship is skillfully controlling her spaceship in the video, the expression on her face in the video strikes her as very strange. Her eyes were wide open, and her eyebrows hinted at anger, but her mouth was wide open, baring fangs, an almost savage smile. Her voice didn't accompany the images, but she definitely felt like she was yelling. Even the eyes on her tentacles watched, and they seemed to be staring at the same place as her human companion. If this expression were to be summed up in a few words, it would be "victorious aggression".

Maggie doesn't remember ever making such an expression.