It was Codi's first look at the fighters from Firequake Academy and she had to admit, they were an intimidating group. The plates of their exoskeletons were coloured a deep, gore red above the black fibre weave. Jagged, random slashes of steely grey dotted their armour giving them a battle-scarred look. And if that wasn't enough, every single one of them had the permanent expression of a hungry predator.

What the fighters from Firequake lacked in technique they made up for with ferocity. While they didn't always win, they were guaranteed to cause havoc in the arena. It came from a martial pride in their home world, from living on a blazing furnace that filled the rest of human civilisation with dread and respect in equal measure. Their fans packed out the main stands in a shrieking storm of feral energy that sent shudders up her spine.

Tearing her attention away from her opponents, Codi turned to face her companions. Her gaze settled on the newest member of Battlecast's Capture-the-Flag contingent.

Leela had a beaming smile plastered across her face, as though she'd been waiting her whole life for this moment. She stood out from the rest of the group, being shorter and of a slighter build, but she still bore the cyan and blue of Battlecast.

Many people, particularly Gareth, had been shocked at her surviving the penultimate round of cuts. Codi, on the other hand, was glad to have her. That being said, she also had a sneaking suspicion that only the team's failure to perform thus far had provided a stay of execution for Leela's Gauntlet career.

The decision had been made after the Mars tournament to switch the line-up following another lukewarm performance. They'd ditched Prissa Alder and frankly Codi was happy to see her go – another entitled, snippy teenager who, while being a solid one on one fighter, was thoroughly un-likable. Her replacement brought them a desperately needed injection of speed.

Clever tactics had now been thrown out the window. Their new roster had only one plan: get the flag to Leela, by any means necessary. Right now, Codi didn't care why Leela had made the cut. They needed something special.

She glanced back over to the Firequake team who were deep in conversation and her eyes locked onto the boy who was giving the orders. He was a grim-faced, lean individual with a shaven head. The tattoo of a sword was emblazoned on his forehead in oil-black ink, with the blade pointing down and ending at the top of his nose. All tolled, he was a mean-looking customer. She watched as he pointed to different members of the Battlecast group, giving out orders that she couldn't hear. He caught her eye and his gaze lingered for a moment – a stare as intense as the world he lived in.

"They're going to come out swinging," Codi declared. "It's how they work. Gareth and I will run attack. Ripple, you and Cardle hang back – delay them as much as you can."

"And me?" Leela piped up. Codi exchanged a knowing look with Gareth before replying.

"You?" She grinned. "You just get behind us and we'll clear you a path. Once you get a window, do what you do best."

She nodded. "I won't let you down."

"Okay," Codi said as they took up their starting positions in front of their flag. "We all know the plan. Just focus up and get it done."

They set up in a plough shape, with Codi and Gareth out in front, flanked by Ripple and Cardle hanging slightly further back on either side. In the middle Leela waited. Opposite them, across the canyon-like dip that formed the main playing field, the Firequake fighters formed up in a single line, the tattooed leader in the centre.

Codi readied herself to spring as the roar of the crowds swelled. The timer on the display screens scattered around the arena boomed down from five, a countdown to mayhem. Adrenaline flooded through her and she fastened her eyes on the grim-faced figure of Firequake's leader. He was her target.

And the klaxon sounded.

She and Gareth exploded out of the starting blocks, running side by side straight into the centre of the arena. Codi didn't need to look back to know that Leela would be keeping pace with them.

Down in the main gully a line of thrumming mechanical arms separated both teams, their ends blunted by heavy padding. The pads would prevent any serious injury, but more importantly they would send contenders flying. Getting knocked out of the fighting, even for a moment or two, could have disastrous consequences in the Flag discipline.

Their speed held them in good stead as they reached the line of machines first. She hurdled them in a single leap, hitting the ground running and piling on speed as the red-armoured fighters from Firequake rushed down to meet her.

Codi quickly noted their positioning – they'd collapsed into a pentagon formation with their leader right at the point. She angled her run toward him. If she could get him out of the way not only would she sideline their most dangerous fighter but she'd also take out their traffic controller. Watching them intently in the build up to the match she could see that this kid was calling all the shots. Without him the rest of the team would be disorganised.

Her plan half-worked.

They smashed together with bone-shaking force, propelled forward at searing speeds by their exoskeletons. He didn't slow, but tried to spin to one side, away from her charge. Codi managed to adjust at the last second, having to lessen her blistering pace in order to snag him by the arm, hooking her right through his left as he passed. His momentum wrenched her off balance, but moving at such speed he couldn't keep his feet with another fighter hanging off him. The Firequake leader stumbled, tripped went careering head over heels. In a mess of limbs they tumbled straight into one of the spinning arms, and the contraption dutifully thumped them both halfway across the arena.

When Codi finally hit the ground her head was spinning – it felt like she'd been hit with an electric shock. Shaking her head to clear it, she scrambled upright and looked around frantically, trying to track what was going on. She'd lost her target in the mayhem, but it looked like her initial clash had broken the game wide open. The rest of the Firequake team, however, were coping without direction for the moment, splitting into textbook assignments. Cardle and Ripple were doing their part to shepherd the other team's attackers away from their flag, while at the other end Gareth and Leela had managed to out manoeuvre their opponents.

With Gareth still running interference out in front, the pair had gotten around one of the Firequake defenders, leaving only one between them and the flag. Accordingly, Gareth now abandoned all finesse and simply hurled himself at the girl barring his path. He clamped his arms around her waist in a tackle and started pumping his legs, shunting her aside.

And then Leela exploded into life.

Running behind her team mates, the rookie contender had been moving at an easy pace by her standards. Now with a clear path the full extent of her speed became apparent. She was fast normally. With the exoskeleton she was like a human missile.

Even as she ran to get back into the fray, Codi couldn't tear her eyes away from her diminutive team mate as she unleashed her full potential. In a matter of seconds she had her hands around the other team's flag. Ripping it from its holder, she twisted and set off in the opposite direction, streaming down the Flag court in a blaze of cyan and blue.

The Battlecast fans went wild.

For her part, Codi sprinted hard, zeroing in on the other Firequake defender who was still on his feet. The kid might have been wrong-footed, but he wasn't giving up, now moving to bar Leela's return path. In doing so, however, he wasn't looking behind him.

Codi slammed into him shoulder first, sending him careening across the floor and well out of Leela's running lane. Then she started back-pedalling, before pivoting mid step and falling into position as a blocker again. It wouldn't be long before Leela simply ran past her, but Codi could see that the Firequake attackers had realised what was happening.

Unable to get to their opponents' flag, the boy and girl now abandoned their efforts, instead hurtling back down the arena to try and intercept Leela.

Not on my watch.

Codi put on as much speed as she could, closing the gap between herself and the front runner with alarming quickness. She saw Ripple actually give chase and the white-haired veteran managed to drag the male fighter to the ground from behind. That left Codi one-on-one.

The girl from Firequake didn't give her an easy task. She slowed down when she saw Codi coming, lowering herself into a fighting stance. A hard-faced individual with short-clipped blonde hair, she stood half a head taller and from the way she moved Codi could tell she was no rookie.

She tried to feint one way and then burst off in the other direction. Codi caught the girl by the scruff of her exoskeleton and dragged her back. She twisted away, broke the grip and lashed out. Codi stepped and blocked, then swung a high kick at her opponent's head. The girl managed to avoid the worst of the impact but was driven back a pace.

Resetting her feet, the Firequake fighter made a sudden, wild charge, taking Codi by surprise. She pivoted back and braced for an impact that didn't come. At the last second the girl dived, trying to slip between her legs. She reacted just in time, dropping and catching a trailing ankle as it passed underneath her. She didn't have good enough purchase to halt the girl's progress, however, and she ended up being dragged into an awkward forward roll, crashing down onto her back. But she clung on.

She heard the girl curse and rolled onto her front to see the cause. She didn't see it for long. Leela went streaking past them like a lightning bolt. A second later Gareth came thundering by in hot pursuit.

Scrambling forward, Codi used the girl from Firequake as a springboard, planting a hard boot between her opponent's shoulder blades and driving her into the ground as she tried to rise. Kicking off, she launched herself into a run, falling into step behind Gareth.

Her heart leapt as she realised there was now nothing between Leela and the finish. Ripple and Cardle had both combined to remove the remaining threat from the other team. All their new team mate had to do was make a beeline for the Battlecast flag and the match was as good as over.

But even as that thought crossed her mind, Codi realised something else. There was someone else unaccounted for. The leader of the other team had been suspiciously absent. She glanced around behind her but couldn't see him. Confusion reigned in her mind. There was no-where really to hide in a Gauntlet arena. Where the hell was he?

A couple of seconds later she got her answer.

It took a moment for her to realise what was happening, and when she did her eyes opened wide in shock. Far out of the fighting, the tattooed captain of Firequake's contingent was standing in front of one of the spinning mechanical bludgeons, watching. He was nodding his head in a kind of rhythm, staring at Leela's progress. Then he jumped backwards, straight into the path of the arm.

Desperate didn't even begin to describe it. Codi could only watch as the arm clouted the boy into a high arc as though he'd been flung out of a catapult. Following his trajectory she realised, with amazement, that he'd timed it to perfection.

"Leela!" she screamed above the noise of the fans. "LOOK OUT!"

It was too late. Like an avenging angel the Firequake captain landed right in her path. Moving at full tilt she didn't have time to react and get out of the way. The boy rose and swung one sinewy arm like an iron bar, clothes-lining the unfortunate flag carrier.

A gasp arose from the onlookers as Leela's head snapped backwards. The flag went flying from her grasp and the sheer force hurled her into a back flip until she hit the ground. She didn't get up.

Codi's shock lasted only for a moment before her anger took over. She redoubled her efforts as the Firequake boy backed away from Leela's prone form, moving to protect the flag until his team mates could come to his aid. But before he could get to it, someone else slammed into him.

She felt a surge of gratitude – of retribution – when Gareth arrived, ploughing through the boy's guard and up-ending him. And it looked like she wasn't the only one that had a temper. Her team mate may not have been Leela's biggest fan, but that didn't seem to matter right now. Before the other boy could recover Gareth landed a stinging right hook across his jaw, then another to his gut. Then he whirled, kicking the boy in the back with enough force to knock him flat.

Leaving Gareth to his revenge, Codi skidded to a halt at Leela's side. Her friend had managed to push herself back onto her knees, rotating her neck from side to side.

"Leela, you okay?" she blurted out, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Leela looked up, her youthful features screwed up with pain. "Where's the flag?" she forced out through gritted teeth.

"Not far." Codi hauled her upright looking back the way they'd come. Two more fighters from Firequake were bearing down on them. "Can you run?"

"Faster than them," Leela spat, her voice filled with uncharacteristic venom. "Let's go."

Codi stared at her for a moment. This was not the timid girl she remembered from the tournament on Olympus Mons. It looked like her friend had finally found a bit of fire inside her.

"Go," she said. "I've got your back."

Leela did as she was bidden, scooping the long flag-pole up in mid-step the sound of another swell of Battlecast cheers. She rotated and shot off toward the Battlecast flag, legs pounding; face a mask of determination. Codi followed, keeping an eye on the two chasers from Firequake. Their efforts would be too little, too late, however. With Gareth still laying into their team leader there was no-one who would catch Leela, injuries not withstanding.

They didn't have long to wait. In a matter of seconds Leela had covered the remaining distance and slotted the captured Firequake flag into position. Cheers reverberated around the arena as she sank to her knees, clutching her neck. Codi dropped down beside her.

"You did it," she said breathlessly. "You won!"

Smiling through the pain, Leela looked up at her. "I did, didn't I?"

Codi laughed and pulled her into a hug. All around them the roaring Battlecast faithful set the air alight.

*

Codi tried to look happy taking her place on the third place podium. To her right Dustin Morto cast his bulky shadow over her in more ways than one. He'd taken first place against what everyone had predicted. Between her, Ripple, Chris and Gareth, Battlecast fighters had locked out the next four places on the list, but all anyone looked at now was that elusive high-step.

The most frustrating thing was that it had been completely out of her hands. Ripple had beaten her on impact rating in their semi-final and then Morto had managed to beat her comrade in turn. Codi didn't hold the other girl any ill will for losing, but the feeling of powerlessness didn't sit well in her stomach.

Still, things weren't a total loss. With Leela on their side the Battlecast Capture-the-Flag prospects had taken a sharp upward turn. Their runner was so fast that other teams quickly started keying on her in every game, but it seldom mattered. Leela ran rings around them in almost every match. They recorded Battlecast's first Capture-the-Flag tournament win of the preseason and not a moment too soon.

Firequake academy's representative was prattling on about the greatness of the competition and the honour he felt at being able to host such an event. It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. The assembled fans and reporters applauded as required; news cameras hovered around like gun turrets. At the last tournament before the Gauntlet itself, the media frenzy was reaching fever pitch. She couldn't help noticing each time those invasive lenses swooped in on her and every time they did it drove home that soon she would be getting put to the final test. She would need to make good on all the faith that had been shown in her.

The awards ceremony dragged on and on. Eventually she received the platinum medallion emblazoned with the Firequake emblem and the three podium finishers were allowed to step down. The three of them moved almost in unison and once they were out of the glare of the cameras, Dustin Morto turned to them.

"See you both at the Gauntlet," he declared simply, and it occurred to Codi this was the first time he'd really spoken to her. His voice was ridiculously deep, as though each word was being dug up from a mine shaft.

Codi extended a hand which was promptly enveloped by his. "Looking forward to it," she said, and she meant it.

Then he stumped off, his enormous frame receding into the arena corridors.

Codi followed suit making her way back through the halls, taking a long convoluted route to avoid the press vultures. She'd thought she was alone, but in one apparently empty hallway she heard footsteps from behind her, slightly weighted to one side. A limp. She smiled to herself and turned to look.

"Hey," Kye said, coming to a halt in front of her. "Sorry, didn't mean to creep around following you."

"You could've just yelled."

He shook his head. "That's hardly my style."

"You have a style?"

"Very funny. We're shipping out soon and I wanted to catch you before you left. At the Gauntlet...well I dunno if we'll have time to, y'know-,"

"I know. I wanted to see you too."

She pulled him forward into a hug and exhaled a long, slow breath, nestling her head against the side of his neck. His arms closed around her and she felt him relax, his cheek resting against her head. When they stepped apart she let herself fall into his twinkling brown eyes.

"Nice work in the CTF, by the way," he said. "Where have you been hiding her all season?"

"Who, Leela? Oh, you know, we all have our little secrets." Codi smiled mischievously then rocked up onto her toes, planting a kiss on his lips. "Speaking of secrets, had any luck tracing our mystery guest from the colonies?"

Kye lolled his head from side to side. "Kinda."

"Kinda?"

"I still don't have a name or anything, but I think I've tracked down his academy. The old Osis institute went bust like I said, but the administrators set up a new academy with new buyers. They must've managed to pay off – or write off – the debts and then there was a two year handover. This place has been officially registered for three years but they haven't actually competed in the Gauntlet till now. That's why we haven't had any fanfare about it. They're put a lot of effort into hiding under the radar."

"Why?"

"Beats me." He shrugged. "Guess we're going to find out."

"So what's the academy called?"

"Black Horizon."

Codi raised a dubious eyebrow. "Very doom and gloom."

"That it is."

"I'll see if the Battlecast database has anything on them," she said. She stopped the next thought from making its way out of her mouth, but to her annoyance it seemed that Kye had gotten pretty good at reading her despite their long periods apart. He gave her a knowing look.

"C'mon now," he told her. "What is it you want to say?"

"It's just..." She fumbled, looking for the words. "Like you said, I didn't tell any of the coaches about it."

"But...?"

"But I had to show some of my team mates."

Kye frowned. "Had to?"

"They noticed I'd been sneaking off to have chats with you and they were accusing me of this, that and the next thing. I thought they should know that you're not trying to string out all the Battlecast secrets. Frankly, it's the only way I could get them to shut up and leave me alone. I let them see the tape."

To her surprise, Kye started laughing. "Is that it? Well, I guess I ought to never speak to you again!"

She punched him on the arm. "It's not funny."

"It's a little bit funny." He stepped out of reach when she threatened to hit him again, raising his hands in placation. "Alright, alright, alright. So how did that go?"

Codi shook her head. "Kye, they just...brushed it off. They don't care. They don't see him as a threat."

"You sound surprised. Remember these are the same people that didn't think you were a threat."

"I know that, but I thought after last year they might have learned their lesson."

He smiled. "Codi, I'll take more than one bump in the road to derail the belief system they've got going on in that cult. Most of those kids have grown up seeing Battlecast do nothing but win. It seems strange to you and me, but it's just how they think. Don't dwell on it."

"Easier said than done." She blew out her cheeks in a sigh. "If they won't pay attention I guess I'll have to do it for them."

He looked at her for a moment. "You really like it there, don't you?"

"It's nice to be playing for the favourites this time around." Codi shrugged.

"I'll bet it is." He reached forward, tucking a loop of her hair back behind her ear. "Just do me a favour. Remember where you came from. Don't let Battlecast go to your head."

"I won't," she replied, taking his hand in hers. "The academy might be gone, but Brax-Delta is right here." She tapped her chest. "I'm not going to forget."

Kye's face cracked into a warm smile. "Codi?"

"Mhm?"

"You're amazing."

She blushed, laughing awkwardly. "I'm that same as I always was!"

"Fine." Kye tipped her face up and kissed her again. "You amaze me."