(no subject)

[no99]

Somebody's been thinking deeply, on and off, ever since her last deployment. The one where half her mech got blown up and she didn't land a single hit on her opponent. It's the kind of thing that sticks with you. It doesn't come up again until one of those late nights, when Suma's off duty and drinking heavily. Like she tends to do.

"It's a fine puzzle, isn't it? War God Number 02. What kind of strategy do you use against someone who knows your next move the moment you do?"

Drink. "She may be the worst possible match for me. I've no skill with clouding my thoughts, and unless I can figure out some sort of trick, I'll never get close enough to turn it into a close-range fight, where I'd be at the advantage. Still, I'll certainly see her again, and don't plan on dying when it happens."

Drink, bitter laugh. "And then there's still the Pharaoh beyond her. And beyond him, a hundred new foes emerging in this new age of warfare. Even after coming so far, the mountain I climb continues to rise to unfathomable heights!"

Comments

[actuallyselfish]

"Uh..." Dido takes a break from her own glass of beer to mull Suma's conundrum over.

"How about this? Every time you attack her, come up with two different attack strategies, and focus on both of them in your mind. When the time comes to make the attack, pick one of them on, like, a whim?"

She takes a sip of brew. "There's a 50 percent chance she moves to counter the wrong attack."

[no99]

"It is not an idea without merit. However, would that whim not count as a thought, and also be read?"

Sigh. "Too many unknowns. Perhaps her blindness can be put to use."

[actuallyselfish]

"Aye, her blindess could be exploited" Dido says, frowning. "But couldn't she just use her mind-reading to see with your own eyes?"

She pauses. "Oooooh."

[no99]

"I have an idea of what you're thinking, and it's not as simple as it might sound. Do you think you could close your eyes for a moment and best somebody who's been blind for her entire life?"

[actuallyselfish]

"On foot? No way." Dido admits.

"But the two of you pilot mechs. Well, magic mechs."

She frowns in thought.

"How does that work?" She asks. "Do you guys sit in cockpits with controls made of, I dunno, crystals and bamboo? And how do you perceive things?"

[no99]

"Sefet was a sword, once. When the times changed, it became a gun. Now, it is one of the weapons of the new age. The controls are nothing as fanciful as you may imagine."

[actuallyselfish]

"So you and War God Number 2 both use a standard cockpit for your mechs? Viewscreens, buttons, joysticks, and the like?" Dido asks.

"That brings up the question: how does she see from within her cockpit?"

[no99]

"I doubt she sees at all, within her cockpit. She simply sees what we see within her mind's eye."

[actuallyselfish]

"Um..." Dido says. "Do you mean that she just has a sixth sense that allows her to navigate on her own, or that she literally see the images we see in her minds...with her mind?"

She twiddles her thumbs. "Of course, there's a simple way to test that."

[no99]

"I fought her once, and did poorly. Any insights I have into how her Art works is guesswork."

[actuallyselfish]

"Then next time you fight, try taking out her cronies first." Dido says.

"If she does rely on allied and enemy units to give her sight, then she'll loose her cool once her avenues of vision start diminishing."

She shrugs. "I admit, I'm guessing myself. But if she does use a standard mecha cockpit, she's cut off from the outside world, and won't be able to use her sense of hearing like she would on the ground."