Nora returned to the grandstands with her friends three hours later. While the others watched match 32 come to an end, Nayla, who was next in line, was getting ready in the locker rooms. A Tseeran and a Crejak had just finished a fiercely contested battle, with the Tseeran emerging victorious by a slim margin. It was still about ten minutes before Nayla's fight, match 34.
Nayla completed her pre-battle meditation and stretches in the locker rooms below, then zipped into her camouflage bodysuit. She went over her opponent's statistics in her head as she organized her equipment. Cynna Kael is a thirty-three-year-old human woman who has been an Elemental for eight years. One of the Storm Challenges' most experienced fighters, Cynna was mentioned in Marty Telken's opening remarks. Although the odds were in favor of Cynna 2:1, Nayla was aware that this was not a given.
At the thought, Nayla's lips formed a smirk. After folding her crossbow and putting it in her hip holster, she put on her helmet. A G3 assault rifle for long-range combat, supported by two pistols and two daggers, and a hand-and-half sword as her main melee weapon made up Cynna's well-rounded, if traditional, loadout. Her overall stats, which regularly ranged from 6 to 7.5, were well-balanced and exceptionally high for a Water Elemental. Nayla would need better strategies to win. "Move and sting," she thought.
Nayla slung her sword over her shoulder and made her way to the door. As soon as she arrived, the door opened, allowing her entry to the arena floor. Nayla positioned herself inside the painted starting box and made fists with her fingers before letting them drop. Without knowing the result, she took on one of the most seasoned veterans in the tournament—possibly anywhere. There wasn't much time for more thought; over her communications equipment came a synthesized voice.
"Begin."
Nayla used voice commands inside her helmet, which was her favorite way to operate stealth and sensor systems. "Activate the camouflage. Configure sensors to follow a standard search pattern. Immediately, a screen in her visor came to life, providing her with information about her surroundings. At the same time, her body glowed, turning into an almost undetectable distortion against the arena's background, akin to heat haze.
The drone camera that was following her automatically switched to infrared after losing its visual lock. It attempted motion tracking after failing to detect any heat signature, but those sensors were also confused by Nayla's systems. With no way to be detected, the drone turned off and clattered pointlessly to the ground. In order to get a good firing position, Nayla ran off toward the top of the central hill.
Nayla arrived at the top much before her opponent and hid behind a big rock so she could watch Cynna coming. With her G3 assault rifle ready, Cynna strode forward. As the distance gradually shrank, Nayla kept an eye on the rangefinder on her helmet display. Apparently unconcerned by Nayla's potential offensive capabilities, her target did not try to use cover. "First mistake," Nayla thought.
Cynna was well within the crossbow's ideal fifteen-meter range, according to the rangefinder. Nayla looked around, grabbed a tiny rock, and threw it far to Cynna's right. When it clattered loudly, Cynna turned to face the sound.
Nayla looked down the aperture sights of the crossbow. There. Under her right armpit, Cynna's raised arm revealed an unarmored patch. Just as Nayla saw Cynna start to respond to the distraction, she centered the sights a little above the target point and squeezed the trigger. Cynna wouldn't be able to tell where the shot came from because the crossbow's moving parts were covered in rubber, which muted the firing mechanism.
Cynna, who was already heading in the direction of the noise, moved slightly as the bolt flew true. Her back plate was struck at a shallow angle by the armor-piercing tip, which bounced harmlessly away. Cynna spun, G3 up, looking for the assailant after being alerted by the sharp impact on her armor. Even though Nayla had already ducked under cover, her opponent was unfazed.
As Cynna sprayed rounds across every possible cover in the vicinity of Nayla's final position, Nayla heard the characteristic crack of the G3. Nayla remembered that the rifle had a magazine that held forty rounds. She started mentally marking off every shot that was fired. The fingers of her left hand closed around three throwing stars as it dipped to her belt. One, two, three, five, thirty-nine, forty! As soon as the gunfire stopped, Nayla jumped up.
Cynna stood motionless for a moment twenty meters away, a new magazine in her hands and an ejected one at her feet. With her sword drawn, Nayla charged. Only a warped human silhouette, holding a sword in one hand and tiny metal discs in the other, was visible to Cynna through the glimmer of active camouflage. In a desperate attempt to insert the new magazine into the G3, she was able to seat it and work the action right before Nayla's first shuriken hit.
The stars fanned out in the air after being thrown with expert precision. The second one got through a hole in Cynna's left pauldron, while the first and third hit her arms innocuously against armor. Cynna dropped her rifle and let out a cry. She quickly collected herself and pulled out her sword as Nayla got closer. In response, Nayla deactivated her visual camouflage and pulled out a dagger with her now-empty left hand.
Nayla was now completely visible, but her sensor-baffling systems were still in operation. Cynna positioned herself in a combat position and launched a forceful blow towards Nayla's abdomen. As the sword started its arc, Nayla crouched down in anticipation of the move. The blow whistled harmlessly over Nayla's head, well-aimed. Nayla grabbed the opportunity from her crouched position and kicked Cynna in the shins with a low kick.
Cynna lost her balance and fell. Nayla rushed to gain the upper hand, but her opponent responded right away. As she continued to fall, Cynna swung her sword hand out and viciously punched Nayla's helmeted head. Backward, Nayla staggered from the impact. Nayla felt the warm trickle of blood inside her helmet as she hit the ground hard; her nose was bleeding.
Nayla hissed through gritted teeth and scurried back into a protective crouch. She only had the dagger in her hand as her sword was lost in the fall, lying several meters away. A resolute Water Elemental with a fierce helmet covering his face stood between her and the fallen blade. Nayla instinctively dropped her posture, keenly conscious that she was now in a vulnerable position. Her mind whirled, looking for possibilities. Cynna, sensing her advantage, moved quickly to prevent Nayla from having any time to regroup or plan.
Nayla decided on the obvious course of action: retreat. She didn't go very far, but her sudden acceleration left Cynna unable to respond appropriately. Nayla scurried behind yet another big rock. Now wary, Cynna took a small step back, putting herself in position to protect Nayla's fallen sword.
Even though the sensors showed nothing, Cynna was warned that her quarry was moving by a faint shimmer close to the boulder, which was the telltale sign of Nayla's active camouflage. The distorted image darted quickly between rocks, slowly getting closer. Cynna kept a close eye on it, determined not to get distracted by negligence.
Nayla was only eight meters from her sword when she slipped behind a rock, and a nearby atmospheric methane jet hissed loudly. Cynna turned toward the sudden sound, startled. Nayla took advantage of the brief diversion. She exploded from cover, angling to Cynna's flank rather than straight at her. Nayla appeared to have disappeared by the time Cynna's eyes jerked back.
Nayla dropped low and moved stealthily toward her sword, which was resting on the ground nearly between Cynna's feet. With excruciating slowness, the distance shrank, and every meter gained seemed to drag on forever. Completely unaware of the almost undetectable figure approaching from behind, Cynna continued to concentrate on the final boulder Nayla had used as cover. Nayla turned off her active camouflage when they were only five steps apart.