VR WARS Volume II - Coalition Army

CHECKMATE IN THE BLISFUL SNOW

Virtual World,

Training Grounds for the Portuguese Coalition, April 11th

The days that preceded the confrontation between the UC and UAT’s commanders were marked by constant stress and anxiety as the students from the coalition engaged each other repeatedly in various forms of combat. Ranging from the ancient form of art to the most modern conflicts in what could only be described as sending meat for the grinder, the students battled each other mercilessly on the plains, forests, cities, and fortresses the Virtual World had to offer.

After three days of constant fighting, the UAT students under Angelo found themselves overwhelmed again and again by the combined forces of Pedro and Rui, who, each time, allied to take out the weakest link in the group to then focus on taking each other out. The reason for this was not only to ascertain the dominance the Prodigies still held over the country’s future, but to enact vengeance on the rebellion that had taken place months ago. But for Rui in particular, it was payback for his defeat in the duel.

In spite of the consecutive losses, the UAT managed to pull from each engagement with heads held high, and each time they posed a more considerable challenge to defeat, even when facing overwhelming numbers.

“What’s with these people? We’ve beaten them more times than I’d care to count, and they keep coming…” one of Lisbon’s officers acknowledged as he viewed the unfolding combat from a vantage point on top of a ridge.

Why is this happening?! Pedro couldn’t decipher the answer, even after having beaten Angelo’s unconventional tactics repeatedly. However, his fears of the man and of his force were only growing stronger each time they were defeated. The rate at which they learn is fascinating! It’s getting harder and harder for me to formulate new strategies to counter them.

“s**t, we got caught in their ambush this time! We’ve taken heavy losses in sector 7.”

“Sir, we’ve just received a message from Rui; his flanking attack failed as well.”

Dammit! How the f**k are we losing when we have this many people facing their puny forces! The sweat that had piled up on his forehead, dripped all over the maps that contained the various troop movements. At this rate, they’re going to cut our supply lines…th-that’s it! He realized when one of those drops of sweat revealed a hidden pattern in the UAT’s moves.“They’re aiming for our supplies! Send our reserves to plug in the gap at the supply depot!”

“…Is that wise, sir? Without them, our HQ will be vulnerable.”

“Send them already!” He screamed, almost tasting a new victory. I’ve got you once more, Angelo!

But then, as he watched his crack troops move away from sight, mechanical sounds alerted them to enemy movement to the rear of their HQ, something Pedro had deemed impossible due to the bumpy terrain. As the bushes spread apart or were squashed by fast-moving motorized vehicles, the now feared red and black costume-made banners of a skeleton angel holding a scythe and an hourglass came into view. While the figures symbolized the obvious, the red that made up most of the flag meant that no quarter would be given. And it was then that Pedro realized that he had been fooled; his vast web of deceit and traps had at last been conquered by this entity whose ambition seemed to swallow all opposition.

“He…he lured me out,” the words spilled out just as the man responsible for Pedro’s demise stepped into view with his commonly known sadistic look. “You gave me quite the trouble, Supreme Commander.”

Surrounded by all sides with weapons aimed at them, it was evident to everyone that Pedro had lost this one. Moreover, nobody knew that Pedro had been beaten on the field and at a psychological level. The entire surprise attack on his supply lines had been a ruse meant to draw Pedro’s forces away while a flanking force from the UAT captured the unguarded UC and UL’s headquarters. A move that only came to be after Angelo had worked his way through all of Pedro’s web of patterns and strategies, deciphering and conquering them in mere days.

“What’s with that sick flag? Why aren’t you fielding the colors of your University?!”

A perplexed Angelo looked over to his glamorous masterpiece and laughed, “Oh, this, it was supposed to be a joke, made by the art department. But the more I looked at it, the more I enjoyed it. We can’t use it in official battles, so we might as well do it during training time, ha-ha-ha.”

“…I think he’s the only one that likes it,” whispered Carlos from nearby, receiving a series of empathetic nods in return.

“Destroying this HQ won’t guarantee your victory!” one of the staff officers from Lisbon firmly discredited the UAT’s accomplishment. “We have thousands!”

“Which are spread out thin. Thanks to that, we can now apply the concept of defeat in detail,” Angelo spoke as he redirected his attention towards a student with a field radio on his back. “Wild Kat, Wild Kat, this is company two proceed with the assault. Objective X neutralized, repeat, you have a green light!”

All the while, the radio operator sent signals to the other UAT units; Pedro pondered helplessly on every move made from the start. But his conclusions were nowhere in sight. Angelo is right; by relinquishing our strength in numbers to defend every objective on the map, our once concentrated army is nothing but scattered garrisons now. Pedro bit his lip to the point of drawing blood. He knew that both he and Rui had cheated when they allied to defeat the UAT, yet the fact that they could lose eluded him, never crossing his mind, not even once. A terrible lesson in humility had been handed to him in a matter of seconds.

“Well then, Supreme Commander, this is checkmate.”

And knowing full well that Angelo abided by the principle of no prisoners, considering the way they had fought all along, Pedro could do nothing but stand firm as the bullets impacted his helpless body. Soon after mopping up what little resistance remained at the HQ, company two, part of Ricardo's 1st Battalion, sprang around to sever Lisbon and Coimbra's communication lines, wreaking havoc wherever they moved. In order to keep what remained of the other universities' commanding structure paralyzed, Angelo had ordered every unit under his command to split off from the main force and perform guerrilla warfare on the isolated garrisons defending each objective on the map.

Under the blinding snowstorm that Angelo always dreamed of fighting in, Marco’s elite fighters prowled for targets, hitting hard and fast strategic positions and disappearing before the alarm could even be raised. Repeating the same violent shock and awe attacks had terrifying effects on the UC and UL students. Unable to respond accordingly to such widespread chaos all across the battlefront, Commander-in-Chief Rui attempted a massive breakout from his entrapped position—walking into a carefully laid trap that resembled the siege of Dien Bien Phu.

Just like that climactic battle, Rui’s students were eaten from afar on an open plain, shelled from a distance by artillery and mortar fire. The slaughter prolonged itself until they became so disorientated that their defensive lines were handled by but a mere shadow of its vast force.

By the time the real UAT attack came, whatever enemies remained crumbled, except for one sector where the ‘Angel of Death’ himself had come to a standstill when faced with a new challenge.

At the UAT headquarters high up on the closest ridge to the frontline, the various unit officers accessed the new situation, bickering among themselves and failing to reach a cooperative agreement that put an end to the fierce resistance that stretched the already long day's training by several hours.

Enjoying the scene with uncommon delight, Angelo warmed his hand on a small fire a few meters from the command tent. He had warned his subordinates that he would not partake in eliminating that final threat to coach them to think independently, an exercise he usually conducted from time to time to keep everyone on their toes. Exercising initiative was always a trait Angelo valued above everything else. He wanted his officers to quickly pick up on this, pass the lessons on to their students, and take advantage of the conditions on the ground that sifted at a moment’s breath.

The reality that had become Pedro’s demise came not suddenly but sequentially. After several days, the UAT had acclimated to the ruses and doctrines the Supreme Commander and Commander-in-chief employed, highlighting the importance already highly defended by Angelo. When coming across an organized guerilla band that operated outside the standard procedure, the UC and UL crumbled to pieces from suffering the adverse effect of maintaining an inflexible strategy that assumed the opposite of what the enemy would do.

Thanks to this, the UAT overcame the combined institutions' numbers by exploiting opportunities to maintain the initiative and taking positive action upon the unforeseen as they occur, while also deviating from the original plan when conditions changed. All of which gave Pedro a furious headache and Angelo more reasons to feel assured of his abilities as an able leader. Still, it was one thing to be naturally talented at warfare and instructing others at it, which was why the UAT struggled so much in those first few days. And yet, his officers' speed of adaptability and audacity, despite their achievements, were still not up to Angelo’s standards.

Perfection was still a rare sight.