Natalie sat alone in her office looking at an old photograph of her grandfather. Jamal came in to speak to Natalie. “How are you holding up?’ Natalie smiled before replying, “I’m doing fine. Just reminiscing on old times.” Jamal smiled, “I remember that photo, the divers conference on the Ursa Major. You were so excited to see the new S.S.R.V. models. You practically begged your grandpa to take you.” Natalie curled her lip up in faux indignation, “I didn’t beg! I was a dignified young lady.” They both laughed at that response. Natalie’s face had returned to a crestfallen look before asking, “Do you think granddad would have approved of how I run Natnet?” Jamal smiled “Are you kidding? He would have been damn proud of you. The position we’re in isn’t your fault. That’s the nature of the business.” Natalie smirked before replying, “Still I can’t help but feel like I’ve let him down. He sunk every penny he had into Natnet. I don’t know what I’m going to do if we have to close down.” Jamal frowned. He paused for a moment before speaking. “I hope it won’t come to that. You have some great divers under your employment. Have faith in their abilities, they won’t let us down.” Natalie responded, “when did you become an inspirational speaker?” Jamal smiled again. “It just comes naturally to me.”
Natnet rec room
Jessie was laying on the sofa watching some TV when Suri came in. “Ugh, look at this mess. You are such a slob.” Jessie laughed and said, “And you are too high strung as usual.” Suri sneered through gritted teeth “It is not high strung to not want to live in a pig sty!” Jessie shrugged and Suri threw up her hands in frustration before she noticed something on TV “Hey, is that the Global Games?” Jessie bit down on a kelp chip before saying “Yep, International circuit. Nemesis is really killing it this year. Kelp chip?” Jessie offered a chip over to Suri who just looked at him bemused “This is the same Nemesis we’ll have to beat in the finales to save our company right?” Jessie responded. “Hey, just because we are in danger of going out of business doesn’t mean we should knock the competition.” Suri sat down and watched the TV.
On the TV
Nemesis dances around his opponent before slamming it with an uppercut. Nemesis was a sleek looking S.S.R.V. with fully articulated joints and multi layered armor. Its humanoid in appearance but can convert itself into a swim mode that resembles a trident. Nemesis made short work of its opponents. Jab after jab lands on its opponents as it disorients the opposing S.S.R.V. before grabbing it and firing torpedoes directly into its chest disabling it. Having dispatched the last of the opposition Nemesis is declared the winner. The announcer speaks “And there you have it folks. Nemesis once again dominates the competition. Antosphere Works Salvage will be moving onto the next round!”
Back in the rec room
Jessi spoke “Man, Nemesis has it all; speed, power, precision, technique. I don’t know how we’re going to compete with that.” Suri looked at Jessie before saying “You don’t seem all that concerned with facing off against Nemesis.” Jessie shrugged before saying “Worrying just means you suffer twice. The universe has a plan so it’s better to just go with the flow.” Suri replies, “I don’t know what the universe has planned but I plan to win.” Jamal walks in and says “Rico is getting ready to load the new torpedoes. You two will be needed for field testing.” Suri and Jessie got up and went to the hangar.
At a restaurant
Elvis picked up Tina for their date. They went to a bistro called Forget-Me-Nots. Forget-Me-Nots specialized in synthetic meat made from underwater vegetable gardens. Tina said, “I’ve always wanted to eat here. The food is great.” Elvis responded “Not used to eating in ritzy places like this. I’ll follow you’re lead.” The two ordered their food and began chatting to pass the time. They caught up on recent events in their lives with Elvis regaling Tina with old sailor stories. “-And that’s how I swam through seven decks to get the men out.”
“Always with the embellishments huh king?” Elvis smirked before saying, “Doesn’t hurt to make things a little bigger in them fish stories.” They both laugh before tina continued
“So how are things going with Mickey?”
“It’s going well. He picks up on things fast. I bet he’ll be a great diver before long.” Tina adopted a forlorn look before asking, “Have you told him yet?” Elvis’ smile diminished. “No, I haven’t. I’ve been putting it off. I’ll tell him after the international competition is over.” Tina looked pensive but didn’t further their discussion. They finished their dinner and went for a walk along the deck of the Rio Grande. Tina walked to the door of her domicile before turning to Elvis. “I had a great time tonight. We should do it again.” Tina kissed Elvis before going inside. Elvis put his hands in his pocket as he walked away. His mind turned to Mickey as he told himself. “Don’t worry. He’ll be ready.”
Day of the Match
The crowds were gathered in anticipation. An arena has been set up for the match between Natnet and Deeproot. It was an underwater mesh net that was 500 meters in diameter. Specialized diving platforms were erected to get the six 15-meter S.S.R.V. into the arena. As they were setting up Elvis pulled Mickey aside to speak with him. “Did you get the repairs ready for today?” Mickey replied, “Of course I did.” Elvis smiled “Great, look no matter what happens today it’s not your fault.” Mickey gave a look of confused before asking “What do you mean?” Elvis said. “What I mean is win or lose you are a damn fine mechanic. Never doubt your abilities.” Mickey was even more confused than he was to start with. To see the ordinarily unflappable Elvis level with him like this was strange. Before Mickey could ask what was up with him the intercom came on. “Attention participants. We will begin in twenty minutes. All divers need to get into position.” With the early prompt given Elvis and Mickey cut their conversation short so that Elvis could get into position. The S.S.R.V. were each standing on their own diving platform. They were ready to take off into the arena as soon as the signal was given. Underwater drones were dispatched to give the audience an up-close view of the action as it plays on the giant monitors. The announcer speaks “Is everybody ready?” The crowds cheer uproariously. “This contest will last for one hour or until one side had been retired. Natnet at the ready. Deeproot at the ready.” Both sides readied themselves. “…GO!”
The S.S.R.V. all race into the water. River Dancer makes a dash for Hive Knight. Hive Knight swigs its sword which River Dancer dodges. River Dancer delivers an uppercut on Hive Knight which momentarily staggers Hive Knight. River Dancer follows up the attack with a torpedo barrage which Hive Knight blocks using its shield. Hive Knight dashes and bashes River Dancer with its shield. River Dancer goes bouncing back into Boxer who punches River Dancer. Boxer then turns to engage Scrapper. Boxer let out a jab and then a hook then a jab. Scrapper dodged the barrage of punches before landing some hits of its own. Boxer tries to hit Scrapper with its drills, but Scrapper dodges and grabs one of the drills snapping it off with a chop. Grabbing its plasma knife Scrapper does a propelling knee to the face of Boxer before cutting the limbs off of Boxer. The crowds cheered at the action going on. Natalie watches with some concern as while Natnet was doing well right now, that could change quickly. Tatsunoryu was currently engaged with Thor. Tatsunoryu deftly swam around the hammer swings of the heftier rig. Tatsunoryu fired torpedoes which Thor swims out of the way of. Thor closes the gap and whacks Tatsunoryu with a hammer strike. While Tatsunoryu is stunned Thor follows it up with another hammer strike. Tatsunoryu tries to retreat but Thor grabs it by the tail and pulls it back. With one more hit from the hammer to the head Tatsunoryu is taken out of commission. With Scrapper taking out Boxer the match is now two on two. Hive Night is still going rounds with River Dancer when Thor attacks Scrapper. Scrapper blocks the first hammer swing with its arms and then propels itself backwards to avoid the second swing. Scrapper fires torpedoes before propelling towards Thor. Thor dodges the torpedoes and goes to swing at Scrapper but is too slow and is hit in the torso with a piston-punch. Scrapper grabs the hammer and swings it at Thor smashing it in the stomach. One final swing from the hammer puts Thor out of commission.
With Deeproot down two S.S.R.V. Hive Knight was double teamed by River Dancer and Scrapper. Unable to fight off two opponents at once Hive Knight was retired shortly after. The announcer who narrated the match says “That’s it! It’s over Natnet wins and will be moving onto the semifinals!”
With their victory Natnet are one step closer to saving their company.
