All around the 'Mech bay, the Ironborn's prospective pilots emerged from their cockpits. Some were greeted by cheers from the engineers who'd been watching the fight play out, others by family members, not all of whom were happy.
As Victarion climbed out of Crow's Eye, he was met by the disapproving glance of his brother, Euron. Victarion knew he'd been eliminated based on his performance, and his brother's look made him feel even worse. He'd let him down. He'd let the Greyjoy name down.
"Forgive me, Colonel." He said apologetically. "Looks like Balon and Alannah raised those kids a lot better than either of us thought."
Euron shook his head. "No, they were just hungrier than you. You've lost your edge, Vic. You're going to have to work hard to get that back, but it certainly won't be in my 'Mech, or anybody else's for the foreseeable future."
"I can accept that." Victarion nodded. "So what's to become of me? Tech duty? KP? Latrine maintenance?"
"We'll talk about that later." Euron answered. "For now, get some rest. You won't be doing anything else for a little while."
Elsewhere, Isolde Botley exited the Anubis to find her mother and Meifeng Zhou waiting.
"Wow." Maria said sarcastically. "What great piloting you showed out there. Charging ahead of the line like that and ending up in eighth place. You're lucky Victarion totally screwed the pooch or you'd be out right now."
Meifeng shook her head in disapproval. "What have I always told you about the Anubis? Never go into battle without your stealth armor activated. You took far more damage than you should have and hurt your score all because you wanted to show off."
Isolde was used to her mother's condescension, but the scolding from her sifu Meifeng hurt her far worse. "Yeah, I know. It totally slipped my mind at first. I completely forgot I'd left it off until I got smacked with that first salvo. I'm sorry, teach."
"Well, listen up, Izzy." Maria added. "According to Euron, you're gonna be teaming with the guys who kicked your ass today. You've been set up to join Asha, Theon and Fuka-chan in the next stage of testing. Maybe they'll rub off on you and help you improve your score."
Isolde groaned inwardly with the prospect of having to endure Theon's taunts and lame pick-up lines and Asha gushing over her impending marriage. Although, on the other hand, she might get a chance to get to know the Kuritan tech-turned-Mechwarrior a little better.
(Speaking of which...)
As Fuka came out of the Grand Dragon, only Julia was there to see her. Fuka's face fell as she faced her sempai.
"Gomenasai, nee-san." Fuka said with humility, bowing very deeply. "I'm afraid that I've failed you with my lackluster performance today. I am now in seventh place and have failed to live up to your confidence and faith in me to win."
Julia simply smiled and waved away the comments. "Don't worry about it, Fuka. You did your best out there. Nobody becomes a Mechwarrior overnight. Plus, the way you worked together with your partners was excellent."
"You...think so?" Fuka said, scratching her cheek.
"Absolutely." Julia responded. "You smacked Isolde right in her overconfident face and you helped eliminate the Colonel's younger brother from the competition. And you did it together with your teammates. You proved you could be a team player, even if you didn't get all the kills."
"Even so." Fuka protested. "I want to win. I want to pilot this machine." She gazed the Grand Dragon with pride. "I want to give him his name."
"Then keep going, Fuka." Julia said. "Don't stop until you get to the top. You still have two stages left. Work hard, and fight smart, and you'll achieve your goal."
"Arigato gozaimashita, nee-san." Fuka bowed again. "I will."
Across the bay, Asha and Theon cheered their mutual victory as they left their 'Mechs. Asha was acknowledged by the instructors as having received the highest score in stage two and was now on top of the leaderboard. Joining them was Bors Harlaw, who was now second overall. Theon's spirits were drowned a bit when he learned he was only fifth after the battle, but quickly reminded his sister that he'd been the one who'd scored the killing blow on Crow's Eye, knocking Victarion out of the tournament.
"We should celebrate, little brother." Asha suggested.
"Sure." Theon agreed. "Just don't feel bad when I drink you under the table."
Asha laughed at that. "Please, you were always a lightweight."
"Count me in too." Said Bors. "I want to get as far away from the Blacktydes as possible. Jurgen is NOT happy with the way things went down."
The Greyjoys and Bors saw Jurgen emerge from the Wraith, growling with barely controlled fury. Though his wife, Beryl and his sister, Freyja were there to try and calm him down, Jurgen cursed his luck. First being given a 'Mech belonging to one of Maria Botley's bastard spawn and second, being unable to cause enough damage to bring his score into contention, dropping him to sixth place overall.
"Grrr, I need drinks, and several of them at that." Jurgen fumed.
"Well, I guess we know where we're headed after the showers." Freyja said. "Beryl, perhaps you could "help" my dear brother with that. I'll make sure to give you two plenty of time before we head to the bar."
"A wise strategy." Beryl nodded, taking her husband's hand to lead him away.
Freyja looked over at the scoreboard. She was in third, mostly due to her having the high score in stage one. Just Asha and Bors to get by to win first choice of 'Mech, She thought, knowing who she needed to keep an eye on.
