VR WARS Volume II - Coalition Army

TROUBLEMAKER

Angelo impatiently awaited the arrival of these men from his position close to the window, and now that he had finally laid eyes on them, he felt somewhat disappointed. So these are our country’s finest…His thoughts began racing after another, bringing all the data he had on these two men and arranging it in the form of mental files.

Long dark hair, grey eyes, handsome but not athletic, average height, dressed in a grey jacket with Coimbra’s crest on his left breast…yeah, there’s no doubt about it. Angelo thought while scrutinizing the man from top to bottom until this mental image finished composing. Commander-in-chief Rui Soares of Coimbra’s University or UC. Scored three wins in the qualifiers, prefers to utilize deception and confusion tactics, sometimes even sacrifices his people as bait to win every crucial engagement on the battlefield, which makes up for his earlier losses.

In other words, the man was a tactician-type.

After finishing his prognosis on the first, Angelo’s attention swiftly shifted towards the second man, now known to everyone as the man to lead the Portuguese coalition: Supreme-Commander Pedro Barreiros.

A twenty-one-year-old genius from the east, his parents migrated here when he was still a newborn. The trip earned him some complications with his health in the early years of his life, then he grew up into a surprisingly well-built character that now stands as the smartest student in the country with grades at the top of the scoreboard since pre-school…Christ, he’s got the brains and looks…

Unlike himself, Pedro and Rui had unbeatable records. Three consecutive and clean victories.

Along with the students they commanded, both men were the country’s best hope of attaining the competition's prize, to public knowledge. However, Angelo had long ago deciphered Pedro’s secret.

Every battle he had watched prior to the meeting occurred in the same manner as a game of chess. Pedro reacted fast to his opponent's moves but never committed entirely until he knew for sure he had them where he wanted. The fact that all his battles were played on the defensive side gave him an edge over everyone else who had random events to portrait, especially the UAT. Each one of his plays unfolded perfectly to his vision as if he was everywhere on the board. Doubting his planning and leadership qualities would only invite trouble, for Pedro was a diligent, honored student with irreproachable conduct.

Always playing it safe, a vigilant defender and passive attacker, with no wits for risks. The type of guy who finishes his homework early then pulls an all-nighter, perfecting it to the best of his abilities.

A strategic-type commander.

But, when it came to battle, plans were a wild variable that eventually fell apart when coming into proximity with a simple fact, initiative. Angelo had built the UAT to have multiple brains in case he was put out of action prematurely, emphasizing a more proactive approach on the spur of the moment than an overall long-term strategy. Fighting against either one of the types was tolerable at best, but fighting both together would be excruciatingly hard. The best counter is to ignore strategy often altogether and improvise with unorthodox approaches, and that's what the UAT specializes in.

Although we enjoy a good solid plan, our university was born out of chaos, and we have always embraced it because we know how to handle it and how to surpass ourselves in it.

In essence, Angelo’s disappointment came not from his colleagues' battlefield nature but their quick-thinking abilities. So far, the UC and UL had all faced opponents similar to their strengths or inferior, but now, they would have to fight armies in tens of thousands in the second stage. So the scale had exponentially grown, and the UAT was the only university to come out above when faced with unfavorable odds.

The flow of battles often changed quickly, and having the mental aptitude to react to it was essential, something that both Pedro and Rui were well-aware they lacked. The ability to manipulate and control everything around you will only get you so far, but then again, I guess that’s why we’re here…When the time comes, and all their perfect little plans fail, the UAT will be there to pull them out of the fire.

Ignoring the multiple indignations sent his way from the other side of the table, Angelo, having finalized his constructive profile on the commanders standing before him, left the cover of darkness behind to take a seat at the table.

Even in the death of silence, the reassurance and serenity displayed by the ‘Angel of Death’ were enough to defer any further complaints the other representatives might have had. Because no matter how they saw him or how few students he commanded in comparison to Pedro and Rui, Angelo was the only person in the entire coalition to awaken his inner-spirit, his AWP.

And that in itself was worthy of admiration.

“…Hem–Well…shall we get started, then?” a bald man with a white mustache from Lisbon’s side of the table purposed as he cleared his throat. “As you all have been informed, the Supreme-Commander of this coalition will be Pedro Barreiros of our Lisbon faculty. While Commander-in-chief Rui Soares and Deputy-Commander Angelo Carvalho from the UC and UAT will support him as the second and third in command. Since the battle theme hasn’t been disclosed yet, we will begin mock battles as a sort of training method to assess the level of each university–”

“With all due respect, we’ve proven ourselves four times already–” interrupted Angelo to make a point, only to be in turn cut-off by Rui. “You, only three from what I heard.”

Once more, the atmosphere was set ablaze with murmurs from all sides of the table that desired to escalate into full-grown outbursts. Simultaneously, Rui and Angelo were battling themselves, in the form of a staring match.

“Enough!” yelled out Big Richie as he stood up and slammed his fist into the table, the sound of which echoed loudly across the room. Everyone looked at the giant in stillness, not knowing whether he had calmed down or if he had anything more to say.

“You see, gentleman, unlike you, all my people, are not so good at politics–” Angelo tapped his friend on the waist to signal him to stand down while he tried to appease the situation. Only to have his train of thought derailed once more by Rui, “Or to follow orders from the looks of it…”

This time it was the turn of the ‘Angel of Death’ to issue a proclamation “…You interrupt me again, and I’ll cleave that pretty looking head off your shoulders.”

Clearly feeling indignant with that statement, it was Rui’s turn to stand up and issue a proper challenge. “We’ve got the tools, so let’s see that happening, mongrel!”

“Great!”

“Gentleman, please!” pleaded the director of the UL to both of them as he attempted to clean the sweat dripping from his mustache, “Ah…they all left…” but to no avail, everyone stormed off quickly from the room, and he was left alone.

It didn’t take long for word to spread among the student population about the looming duel that was going to take place inside the virtual world. The entire university seemed to have stopped only for the mere purpose of witnessing this fight happen.

Walking through a series of beautiful gardens, Angelo and his opponent marched into a building that looked more like a giant mirror, with windows spamming from top to bottom reflecting whatever light was conceived by the thunderstorm that still ragged on. Following closely behind were Pedro and all the other representatives from each university that had sat at the table. But unlike before, Pedro was the one trying to catch up with his deputies.

Ten minutes! Ten minutes and we’re already at each other’s throats! Dammit, why did this man have to come here? He wanted to scream in rage, knowing that this incident's fault belonged solely to Angelo and not to his right-hand man.

More students started appearing everywhere, not just members of the UL, but from the UC and UAT, but this was not surprising to anyone, seeing as Lisbon’s campus grounds accommodated both of these universities' contingents. Yet, the way word had spread about the duel meant that someone had eavesdropped on the meeting or gotten a tip from the inside, leaking information to the general public. And that was a significant security concern, however…

“…It was you, wasn’t it?!” Angelo voiced his accusation, slowing down his pace to look behind, catching Pedro and Rui by surprise, though both didn’t know what he was talking about until he continued. “I’m talking to you, Kat!”

If there was one person who could leak information on the web at light-speed, it was Katherine, and Angelo knew that perfectly well. Just as he had finished his sentence, a woman with long silver hair and purple eyes casually popped her head from behind the group of representatives with her tongue playfully sticking out of her mouth. Her appearance was one of fashion awareness, wearing a white and orange jacket that combined rather well with her dark green skirt with navy blue leggings covering her legs and brown high-heel ankle boots. An attire that protected her from the still staggering cold and at the same time brought out her elegance to its fullest potential, strong enough to even make Pedro blush at the sight of such a beautiful woman.

“…Tee-hee– Oh my…got no idea whatyasayin’,” she said, stepping away from the crowd, trying to act surprised but immediately blowing her cover with a wink to her accuser.

“Hmpf…Carlos, take away her phone again,” Angelo, exasperated like a tired old man, then resumed his walk, paying little attention to the ensuring struggle happening in the rear over Kat’s communication device. “Pay too much attention to her, and you’ll end up getting hurt.”

Pedro and Rui swallowed hard and nodded.