Priamus Jin.

Before Sheera Lin and the rest of my monstrous cohort arrived in the National Mecha Pilot Academy and took it by storm, his name was probably somewhere in the top three most famous and recognizable list.

Like Emma Whitefrost, he was extremely proficient in fighting, had a very cool head on his shoulders and balls made of brass. His keen intellect and sharp instincts were also top notch.

All those attributes made for an extremely fearsome combination, and like Sheera Lin prior to the battle, he was one of the most hotly contested students among the military divisions.

His appearance with two thousand mechas before Sheera Lin's four thousand was probably a military scout's wet dream come true.

One of the top established superstars versus a scorching hot newcomer superstar!

Emma Whitefrost was not a nameless character too, especially within the inner circles of power.

However, as a result of her harsh family situation, she was a little bit of a bully in school, and she had made a little gang for herself.historical

Her gang was by no means a group of budding stars. In fact, one might even say that it was a collection of the dredges of the gifted program.

But whatever could be said of them, they were gifted students, after all.

Two hundred of the worst in the gifted program were still two hundred of the best in the regular program.

Additionally, her appearance with Priamus Jin pointed directly at a strange undercurrent within the academy's student body, and was like a thrilling turn of events for the spectators who were in the know of the politics of the academy.

Because of the many heavy weight families sending their scions into the academy, the factions formed by the students hinted at the ever changing factions of the family powerhouses in real life.

For the government and especially for high ranking military officials who had to be kept at a certain measure of separation from their families and clans, watching the politics of the kids in the academy was like watching a news update.

I had once browsed through a secret recording of the military spectator area for that period, and found a gem which clearly demonstrated the attitude of the military higher ups.

"Priamus Jin and Emma Whitefrost. AND with Priamus Jin in the lead. Interesting. Very interesting. The Jin and the Whitefrosts would be a very formidable combination. It would be like a bull and a bear teaming up. They are both warrior clans." General of the Air Force Anthony Chang commented thoughtfully.

"Hmph. Emma Whitefrost and her little good for nothing gang is hardly a representation of the Whitefro- wait, correction. Emma Whitefrost and her bunch of rabble is THE perfect representation of the Whitefrost Clan. The Jins are stooping way beneath their level if both clans are working together." General of the Army Peter Long said in a tired and grumpy voice.

"Grumpy old coot. Your subjective view on the Whitefrosts is a disgrace to the military. You need to get over it. I heard that your precious grandson Victor Long had already gotten over his feud with that new Whitefrost bastard. Why the hell are you still so pissed off?" Admiral Terry Wei sighed and shook his head at the old General of the Army.

"I am not pissed off because of that incident!" Peter Long snapped. "The Whitefrosts have triggered a snowball that they cannot take responsibility for. And for some strange reason, the government is willing to cover his ass! All these unreasonable intrigue is seriously pissing me off."

"Talking about intrigue, something big is definitely happening in the High Command. All of my smartest scientists and researchers and engineers were "invited" over." Admiral Terry Wei remarked.

"Hmmm. Mine too." General Anthony Chang said even more thoughtfully.

"Hmph. That Whitefrost undead must be involved somehow." General Peter Long hmphed loudly.

"Definitely. And that Emma Whitefrost as well. Her performance this time would be an excellent opportunity to glean some clues." Admiral Terry Wei said excitedly.

"She is just a biologically enhanced clone of a dead girl. Don't expect too much." General Peter Long said scornfully.

"We'll see." Admiral Terry Wei merely said in response.

"I don't think the little Lin girl can last much longer. As brilliant as she is, going against Priamus Jin is much too difficult. He is extremely proficient with complex tactics involving multiple vectors and time sensitive traps." General Anthony Chang commented as they all waited for Priamus Jin to make his move.

They did not have long to wait.

Seconds after he said those words, Emma took off with her five hundred fliers!

At the same time, Priamus sent out half his remaining forces, a full seven hundred fifty mechas, to pressure the western slope.

"Here we go. Priamus with the Twin Spear opener. Moving to secure air supremacy while pressuring a critical land based battlefield objective. A good move. Let us see how this Lin genius will res- HOLY MOLY! IS SHE NUTS?" Admiral Terry Wei shouted.

On the battlefield, the seven hundred fifty mechas Priamus sent out were suddenly met by an equal number of seven hundred fifty mechas from within the western slope!

Sheera Lin had instructed her western wing to leave the cover of their trees and to meet the superior gifted program students in battle which she had absolutely no way of winning!

"The very fact that you, an old geezer with one foot in the grave and with more experience than ten thousand kids like her combined, reacted in such a way proves that she is NOT nuts. She took you by surprise, didn't she? And if you were surprised, how do you think Priamus must feel?" Anthony Chang remarked rather excitedly.

"Yes but... why the hell? She gave up high ground with excellent cover to engage an enemy she can't possibly win! Why? I do- HOLY SMOKES! Is she out of her god damned mind???" Admiral Terry Wei shouted loudly like an indignant little boy watching his favorite tv character doing something stupid!

Indeed, even to the most highly trained and experienced eyes, what Sheera was doing seemed insane.

That was just how ground breakingly refreshing her methods were.

At that moment, the other 750 mechas in the eastern slope were also breaking their cover and charging ahead towards the mass of "corpses" in the center area in front of the 300 heavies in the middle.

"What the hell? What is she planning? Damn it." Priamus cursed aloud. He had a cool head, and was able to hold on to his cards without panicking as he watched situations unfold.

But in that particular situation, he truly could not make heads or tails of the situation.

It was so strange for a well entrenched foe to willingly give up their terrain advantage!

"They must be doing that because they are trying to secure an even more powerful advantage! Or is it a ruse to cause me to panic? Is she capable of bluffing and risking the entire battle just to bluff?" Priamus muttered.

The seconds passed, and Emma's fliers finally gained enough altitude to fly ahead.

Priamus' seven hundred fifty mechas also started to canter towards Sheera Lin's seven hundred fifty mechas who were streaming out of the western slope in droves.

The situation turned extremely chaotic as the mechas behind Priamus started to get rowdy.

"Those dumbass first graders finally lost it! Their previous victories must have given them too much confidence!"

"Yes, that's right! They have broken their own trap! Let's charge down and finish them!"

"Ha! So much for their "Rising Sun" status! More like "Sinking Sun!"

I can already imagine the heaviness in the heart of Priamus, or any competent commander, for that matter.

"Everything that looks too good to be true is probably too good be true." Priamus muttered. "If this was a move in the heat of battle, it might be a breakdown of sorts. But this is her opening move. Let's just play defensive."

Immediately, he signalled the retreat for his seven hundred fifty mechas.

Being in the gifted program, near instant obedience had been hammered into the students, especially in battle.

And so the mechas which had barely broken a hundred meters from their starting line, immediately slowed down and started their retreat back to the ridge.

However, the seven hundred fifty from each of the slopes did not return to their cover. In fact, they started to gather in front of the plateau in a mass of mechas.

All in all, one thousand eight hundred rifle bearing mechas gathered in a loose formation.

"Why are they gathering there? There isn't a clear advantage they achieved by doing that?" Priamus thought aloud.

"The only advantage they get in massing is increasing the strength of their volleys, which is useless. Why? Why has their commander done that?" Priamus was baffled, and his heart was in flux.

"Initiating attack on the enemy." Came Emma's calm voice through the comms.

It was only then it struck Priamus.

"They aren't massing to attack." Priamus realized. "They are massing to..."