Team Reforged: Vegas, Baby
Copyright© 2026 by FozzieBare
Chapter 11: Rising Up to the Challenge
Marcus had come through with a bunch of sandwiches for everyone to eat. They had most of the hour break between rounds to eat and relax, and since the Winner’s Bracket second round was the next to take the stage, they had another couple of hours after that to rest and recuperate. It was the first break since they had started playing. The team was glad to have it.
Adrian called them together to explain the schedule for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
“First off, good job. The other team had issues, but we were professional. That was probably the easiest match we could ask for.”
Kevin raised a hand.
“Can we ask for another one?”
“No.”
“Had to try.”
That got a few tired laughs.
Adrian continued.
“Enjoy the break, because after this, we’re not going to have it easy. If we win the next round, we’ll be playing again immediately afterward in the Elimination Bracket semifinal.”
He looked over at Elias, who nodded.
“The good news is that if we make the Elimination Final, we’ll have some time before it. We’d be playing in the final round of the evening against a team that just played and lost.”
Elias added, “Meaning for once, they’ll be the ones coming in without much rest.”
“Exactly.”
Adrian looked around the group.
“Of course, we have to get there first.”
Amy nodded. “One match at a time.”
“Right. And I don’t want to hear any ‘poor us’ stuff about having to play all these matches in one day. We knew the schedule could get brutal if we dropped into the Elimination Bracket.”
Kevin shrugged.
“Keep winning, keep suffering.”
Adrian pointed at him.
“That, except with a slightly more positive attitude.”
“I thought that was positive.”
“We’re still the masters of our own fate. Keep winning, and we get to keep playing. I don’t think anyone here is going to complain too much about that.”
Nobody did.
“We are short-handed compared to some of the other teams. We know that now. We can’t change it today, so we deal with what we have.”
Amy glanced around at the team.
“And when we get home, we start figuring out how not to be this short-handed next time.”
“Absolutely.”
Adrian looked around again.
“For now, stay off your feet as much as possible. Eat. Drink something that isn’t one of Kevin’s chemical experiments.”
Kevin looked offended.
“That energy drink saved your life.”
“It tried to escape back through my throat.”
“Ungrateful.”
Another small laugh went through the team.
“If you’re the type who can sleep sitting down, close your eyes for a while. If you can’t, do something that doesn’t require much thought. We’re going to need everything you have for the rest of the day.”
Adrian started to turn away.
Amy cleared her throat.
He stopped.
She was looking directly at him.
“So, you heard the captain.”
Adrian stared at her.
“I am the captain.”
“Yes. Which means you should listen to him.”
Kevin nodded solemnly.
“Very smart man, that Captain ThunderRoad. Gives excellent advice.”
“I have things I need to do.”
Amy shook her head.
“No. You need to eat.”
“And then,” Kevin added, “you need to become unconscious.”
Adrian looked toward Elias for support.
Elias studied him for perhaps half a second.
“Don’t look at me. They’re right. And I find it very amusing that you’re looking to me to say, ‘I can work this hard and nothing bad will happen.’”
“Et tu, Elias?”
“You’re the oldest person on the active roster, you’ve probably worked harder than anyone else today, and you just rebuilt your WarMAC between matches. Eat your sandwich and get some sleep.”
Amy pointed toward the food Marcus had brought.
“You get ninety minutes. Minimum. Then we can talk strategy.”
Adrian opened his mouth.
Amy raised one finger.
“No.”
He closed it again.
Kevin grinned.
“Captain Amy wins by technical knockout.”
Adrian sighed.
“Fine.”
Amy smiled.
“Good. Now eat.”
Adrian finished his sandwich, then found a chair, leaned back, and closed his eyes. One rogue thought ran through his mind as he worked through a meditation exercise to release stress.
Who’s the captain here, anyway?
Eh. They’re right. Go with the flow.
Don’t set an alarm. They’ll wake me up if it’s too long. If I rest that long, it’s obvious that I needed it.
Getting old in eSports terms sucks.
The next thing he knew, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
He opened his eyes, and looked at Amy.
“Hello, sleepyhead. They’re just about to start the Mass Battle round of the Winner’s Bracket second round. So, maybe another hour and twenty minutes until we’re on.”
Just about two hours. He’d needed it. He didn’t even remember drifting off. But he felt better. At least mentally. Falling asleep in a chair did nothing for anyone’s back and hips, but that could be stretched out, and the team always carried a supply of aspirin or the equivalent for minor aches and pains.
Note to self: If we ever get into a tournament with a schedule like this again, see if we can bring in cots.
He slowly got to his feet and stretched.
“Okay. Do I need to call a brief leadership meeting, or are we all good?”
That got a pause from Amy.
“I don’t think so. They’re starting to flag a bit. The break came at the right time, but this is a brutal schedule. I know it’s not a Pro League situation and there’s a budget, and there are a lot of costs to running it over three days instead of two, but someone should tell Kelto that this really could lead to teams playing worse as the stakes get higher. That’s not something Kelto should want.”
“Renting a convention center and approximately 400 hotel rooms in Las Vegas is expensive. Even in the off-season. Well, as much of an off-season as Vegas has.”
Elias wandered over.
“Good news, by the way. Marcus confirmed that the first payment from Reactor Critical hit our bank account. The bank actually called him because they weren’t expecting such a large transfer. It’s nice to work with a team that is prompt with payments. Too many folks try to put off payment obligations as long as possible, either by choice or by financial need. My old job worked on ‘net ninety’ terms, meaning we didn’t really worry until ninety days after the invoice went out. Even then, we’d reach out and say, ‘Do you need more time?’ rather than reach for the lawyers.”
That was very good news. It would pay a few more salaries and also allow them to maybe acquire the lease on the second floor at Reforged HQ that Marcus had been thinking about. And once Reactor Critical got its production team in order, they’d have to have Emily coordinate sending Martin down to teach them how to run things. Both sides had put systems in place to track how many batches of improved armor and Internal Structure were built. Reforged had the right to call an audit, of course, but doing so out of the blue would almost be a statement that they didn’t trust Reactor Critical, and that would mean things had gone inexplicably wrong with the relationship.
“Good. Next time we won’t have to ask so much of our players.”
Amy agreed with Adrian’s statement. “I think the summer tournament has a lot more teams, but the early rounds are online-only, and only the final rounds are in person. Oh. One interesting bit. We’re on the main stage for the next round.”
That got a raised eyebrow from Adrian. “That’s a lot of attention for a team in their first tournament.”
Kevin laughed at Adrian’s surprise.
“Oh, you have no idea. There has been SO much video of our previous matches floating around social media right now. Overpower’s coach arguing with the match referee. That chase-scene video Abby made and I showed you. Amy sending Rokkitmaster into the lava. Rokkitmaster’s subsequent meltdown. Even the 1v1 duel that ended the last match. Lots of people considered that a classy moment.”
“I just offered it because Henri deserved it.”
“Yes, but doing the right thing when it gets in the way of winning a tournament match quickly and without trouble is unheard of. Yes, you guys weren’t going to lose that round, but everyone else would have just dogpiled the guy and ended it.”
“Speaking of Henri, did Marcus say anything?”
“Yeah, he said that there wasn’t anything glaring that popped out at him, but he’ll want a couple of days for a full check before we call him for an interview. He also thought that calling him so soon after the debacle would be counterproductive. It’d be rubbing salt into the wounds.”
Adrian took a sip of a recovery drink. Thankfully, this was one of those sports drinks, so there was no fizz burning his pipe this time.
“Anything else going on?”
Kevin looked uncomfortable.
“Not anything that will get in the way of us playing.”
That got a sharp look from Elias.
“There’s something you’re not telling us.”
“It doesn’t affect our gameplay. Could hurt it.”
Amy growled.
“I’m getting tired of people telling me that there are things going on but I need to focus on playing.”
She then considered her words.
“It’s true, mind you. But I hate this kind of thing.”
Kevin nodded.
“Look, Amy, it’s nothing we can do anything about right now, and it’s nothing that letting it sit for a couple of hours will make worse. We’ll just have to do a little brainstorming when the matches are over.”
This was getting really old. What happened to reporting about tournaments, highlighting cool moments, gently roasting funny moments? It was the price of popularity, but Adrian really hated that there was so much attention paid to things that didn’t matter when it came to playing the game.
He heard the main-stage crowd roar over something. Even down the hallway and through a pair of swinging doors, it was loud enough to be audible.
He looked at Kevin. “Do we know who’s playing on the main stage?”
Kevin checked his phone and the livestream that Kelto was broadcasting.
“Looks like the Interstellar Warriors just sent the DirttyThirtty to the Elimination Bracket. We get the loser of the other matchup. Looks like the West Coast Generals. They needed to win the Mass Battle to force a tie, and they’ve already lost three pilots without any of the opponents going down.”
Adrian nodded.
“Alright, time to gather the team. They’ll probably be letting us know to be ready soon. Let’s make sure they are all awake, aware, and ready to go.”
A few people had to be gently prodded awake, but even before the officials confirmed that Reforged would be facing the West Coast Generals in the second elimination round, everyone was awake. Cass had even done a brief livestream with her camera off because she didn’t have the normal camera setup she used to power her Vtuber avatar on the road. She did a watch-along with Kelto’s feed and answered some questions about the tournament so far. It had seemed really positive. People kept asking her things about her teammates.
“The funniest question of all? Someone asked me if Amy and Adrian had ever been to a mosh pit because it really seemed they had no regard for their WarMACs’ health and used their WarMACs as weapons way too often. I told ‘em that an hour each day after practice, they put on heavy metal and we work on slamming our WarMACs together. Last WarMAC standing drinks a beer, then we do another round. Of moshing, not of beer. Too many people believed that, so I had to tell them I was just joking, but it was really funny and...”
Keiji nudged Cass. “Breathe.”
Cass giggled.
“Sorry. I’m just having a blast. Long day, but fun day.”
Adrian stared. He still felt like he was dragging his feet a bit, and she looked like she hadn’t felt the fatigue at all.
“How do you have this much energy?”
“Oh, I’ll pay for it later, but I did too many sub-a-thons where I had to pull an all-day and then all-night stream. Once, they even kept adding time to the sub-a-thon while I was asleep off camera.”
Adrian shook his head. Amy was laughing at how hyper Cass was, even approximately six hours into a tournament, with the potential of nearly six more to come.
“Alright, folks. Last call for the facilities. Shiny faces. The Generals will be grumpy after losing, and well aware that if they lose again, they’re out of the tourney. Let’s send them back to their hotel rooms, okay? Being upbeat and looking well-rested isn’t going to earn us a point in the match, but it might help bring down their morale.”
He paused.
“Oh, and if you hadn’t heard, be ready for the crowd. We’re main stage this round. That’s another reason to look happy and well-rested. I don’t want your folks back home thinking that we’re slavedrivers. That’s Kelto’s fault. Not ours.”
Everyone was excited, with only a couple of people looking a bit intimidated at being in front of the biggest crowd they had ever played in front of so far.
As the teams lined up, the West Coast Generals captain shook Adrian’s hand.
“I’d say good luck out there, but I want to stick around. So, let’s have a good match, okay?”
Adrian nodded. “To be honest, I’d take a bad match if it got us one step closer to Finals Day.”
That got a tired grin. “That makes two of us.”
The teams were met by a wall of noise as they walked out onto the stage. The West Coast Generals had a small but dedicated fanbase who had made their way into the stadium seating for this round, and they immediately launched into the familiar “Olé, Olé, Olé” chant as their team took the stage.
Reforged had no organized cheering section.
Apparently, that wasn’t going to stop anyone. The chant was simple enough. One side of the crowd shouted the first syllable, and the other answered with the second.
RE!
FORGED!
RE!
FORGED!
Amy was grinning like mad. Elias looked impressed. Adrian even gave the crowd a wave, which caused the chant to redouble.
First main-stage appearance, no dedicated Reforged fanbase before today. This? This does not suck. Now we just have to keep them. Winning would do that nicely.
The Duel Round was one of those back-and-forth competitions that felt tense the entire time. Both teams had played multiple matches so far, and both knew that one loss would end their day. So there were times when one team’s duelist didn’t press as hard as they might have in the first round earlier in the day. Amy was still her efficient self. She took down the Generals’ first duelist and got a good way into defeating the second. She even managed to drag the opponent as far away from a repair pylon as she could, simply by using the trees as cover and threatening to break contact and hit a repair pylon herself. The Generals pilot either had to accept a general reset of the fight, minus the ammunition already spent, or chase after Amy to try to bring her down.
This match had the announcers’ feed piped into the convention center’s speakers. Adrian appreciated that they talked up Amy’s skills. They went so far as to mention that she was the leader on the “King of Dueling” scoresheet, awarded at the conclusion of the tournament to the pilot who scored the most victories in the Duel Round. He had to laugh when the color commentator wondered if they were going to have to change the name to Queen of Dueling, since Amy now had six victories. Five were unassisted, meaning she was the only pilot to damage the opponent, while her sixth had come after Adrian damaged the opponent in the first match.
Adrian wished he could give Amy a thumbs up, but the team’s seating was next to the booths, which faced the audience.
Henry was slightly behind in the damage trade, but he still had enough to finish off the Generals’ second pilot, who didn’t have time to repair thanks to Amy’s work. However, the damage gap between the two sides had narrowed quite a bit. Henry didn’t do anything especially wrong. He was just outplayed a bit.
Keiji’s duel was the slowest pace by far. The crowd energy had started to flag a bit, but it generally picked up when the fans began the competing chants once again. Keiji was the type of pilot to nibble away at an opponent, unless he felt it was time to pounce and attempt to do maximum damage, regardless of what the opponent might try. His fight was the longest, almost seven minutes. He took down the third pilot, but his WarMAC was heavily damaged, and even shedding virtual sparks in a few areas, indicating that he had taken internal damage.
He managed to make some repairs in the interval between fights, and Reforged had visions of winning their third straight Duel Round, but sometimes luck played a role as well as skill. Keiji took an unlucky hit to the knee, one of the areas that hadn’t been repaired too well, and his WarMAC tumbled to the ground without having a chance to do much damage to his opponent. To make matters worse, Tex fought well, but the Generals pilot scored a Golden BB particle cannon shot from long range, taking out the right arm where his heavy autocannon was mounted. The crowd gasped. It was a shot that had no right to change the fight the way it did, but Tex was behind the eight-ball from then on. He was able to stretch out the fight, doing his best to make the opponent expend time, ammunition, and attention to take him down, but his opponent was barely at half health when Tex lost his other arm to weapon damage. When Tex charged in to try to body-check him, a full volley took him down.
Despite having been on the Duel Round roster all three rounds, this was the first time Trevor had to try to rescue a round, and he had to fight very cautiously. He knew that another lucky hit, like the ones that had taken down his teammates, would end the round and give the Generals two precious match points for the two pilots left. So he kept the fight at a distance. He had a fast, mobile build, so he made his opponent come to him. Ideally, he would somehow defeat both opponents and score Reforged a single point, but his first goal was to limit the damage. Taking out the opponent in front of him but losing to the fifth Generals pilot would at least keep the Generals’ lead to a single point.
A couple of folks in the crowd seemed to heckle the Reforged pilot for fighting too cautiously, but most understood the match’s stakes, and soon another “RE! FORGED!” chant broke out and drowned out the hecklers.
Trevor managed to limit the damage, but most of his armor had been taken off by the time he won his duel. Taking out the final pilot was simply a bridge too far. The Generals fanbase let out a cheer when confirmation of the Generals’ first match point went up next to their digital logo above their booths.
The team came down, a bit crestfallen at finally having lost a Duel Round.
Adrian gathered the duel pilots up, while Elias led the first 4v4 team to the booth.
“Not bad at all. Unlucky. Things outside your control, mostly. Trevor? Really good job at limiting the damage. You guys have nothing to be ashamed of. Grab something to drink, sit back, and relax. We’ll need you at top form later.”
Elias had improved since his poor showing against Reactor Critical in the scrimmage, but he would readily admit that he was currently one of the weaker commanders the team had. However, with two 4v4 rounds, and Amy having to sit out one round because of the match rule limiting a player to three of the four round types, he had to step in to lead a team. He was currently only a little below average compared to other 4v4 captains in the tournament, and he would probably be at least at their level once he had more rounds under his belt and learned to trust his gut instincts instead of trying to make things perfect.
Elias was happier in the strategic layer than the tactical layer. To compare it to a different game, it was like classical chess, where someone could take five minutes or more to figure out the right line of play, versus blitz chess, where moves had to be nearly immediate.
The result was that, more often than not, he was reactive instead of proactive. It didn’t mean they were necessarily losing, but it usually meant they were letting the opponent set the pace of the match, and sometimes it was better to make the opponent react to what you were doing. When people targeted Reforged leadership in previous matches, even a slight delay had led to cascading problems for the team. This time around, the other team didn’t need to target Elias. They simply took advantage by initiating the fights, getting that one extra shot in whenever they started a press.
Adrian knew about four minutes into the round that they had lost. It still had a couple of minutes left, but without some crazy luck, the round’s winner was already decided. He stopped watching the match feed and tuned out the announcers. Instead, he focused on Elias’s face in the video feed.
He liked what he saw. Reforged was losing the round, but they weren’t being beaten mentally.
Good work, Elias. We just need to get you more reps. Once you get used to the rhythm of these things, you’ll be fine.
But that didn’t change the round’s result. Reforged was now down 3-0, and the announcers were beginning to wonder if Reforged’s “Cinderella run” was over.
Man, we’ve only played two rounds. We win my 4v4, we’re back within one point. Don’t count us out. That’s happened in the past. Yet we’re still here. The ones who doubted us? They’re not.
He gave Elias’s shoulder a friendly shake in passing. As they sat down in the booth, he looked over at Keiji. An idea came to mind.
“Keiji?”
“mm.”
“I want you out on the flank here. Be ready. If there’s an opportunity to get into their backline, take it. I’ve got the missiles to keep them off your back. Go for a round-changer, if it’s there. We need this one.”
“k.”
That was Keiji in a nutshell. One letter and a grunt. Adrian was pretty sure Keiji grasped what he wanted him to do.
The Generals had the image of Keiji as a very careful, slow, nibbling fighter from the Duel Round.
That wasn’t his style in group rounds, however. Sometimes he had to be told not to go after the other team’s backline. Amy had once said after practice, “He’s like a cat. If someone shakes something shiny and jingly at him, he has to really resist the urge to pounce.”
Now Adrian was telling him to treat the opposing team’s backline like a laser pointer.
The fight started. Both sides were very cautious. Adrian noticed that the missile boat in the Generals’ backline was the one initiating the maneuvers. Or at least that’s what it looked like. It was the missile boat moving a quarter of a second before others covered him. That could mean that he was already putting a plan into motion as he was telling his teammates where to go next.
Alright, Keiji. Go get him, if it’s there. Let’s see how other teams like it when their leader gets headhunted.
It took two more exchanges, but Keiji read the maneuvering timing perfectly. Like a linebacker timing his blitz to cross the line of scrimmage an instant after the ball was snapped, he raced toward the enemy missile boat, promising to do very bad things to their backline. The other team started to peel away to protect their missile boat, but Adrian had switched his missile rounds to the minelayers and gave Keiji a couple more seconds by putting a layer of explosives behind them.
The Generals’ missile WarMAC tried frantically to retreat, but Keiji was already savaging him. He went so far as to make physical contact, hitting the Generals’ WarMAC with a punch that made Adrian half expect the enemy’s head to pop up into the air, like a WarMAC version of the old Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots game kids used to play.
The Generals’ machine fell backward. Its pilot had reflexively pulled the trigger when his viewscreen was filled with Keiji’s fist, sending a large flight of missiles on a generally upward trend, targeting nothing but the sky. Keiji took one step past him, turned, and continued trying to take it apart, this time with his weapons instead of the WarMAC’s limbs. Adrian could tell the crowd had erupted. Not by sound, but by feel. The noise could be felt through the booth’s walls.
The Generals’ arrival was a second and a half too late to save their teammate, and while they punished Keiji heavily for taking out their commander, the rest of Reforged made them pay for ignoring them. Keiji even went so far as to charge one of the Generals who was shooting at him, looking like he was playing a game of chicken, only to slam his pedals to the floor, trigger the jump boosters, and fly over the Generals’ heads. He then ran through a hole between Reuben and Henry, letting them protect him from getting taken out, their WarMACs acting like shields. Reforged had gained a huge advantage, and the Generals knew it. They immediately tried to break contact and find a repair pylon, but Reforged wasn’t going to let them go easily. Keiji went searching for a repair pylon of his own while the three other Reforged pilots charged after the fleeing Generals’ WarMACs.
The enemy didn’t end up making it to the repair pylons before being taken down, and Reforged was back within one point in the match.
Adrian had one vindictive thought run through his head.
Cinderella’s still the belle of the ball, huh? No glass slipper needed.
It was halftime, and Reforged still trailed, but entering the 6v6 it was 3-2, West Coast Generals. Eight points were still on offer. Really, the 6v6 round had been made a non-entity because whoever won the Mass Battle would earn five points, and thus the match.
Adrian came out smiling and accepted a high five from Elias and Amy while the rest of the team surrounded Keiji and cheered. Keiji looked more uncomfortable with everyone’s attention for making the key play of the round than he had been at any point prior to that. Cass noticed and got everyone to back off a bit.
Amy was laughing. “Cass was right. We are a bunch of WarMAC-wielding barbarians. First you, then me, now Keiji. All we need now is Elias jumping on someone and trying to ride them piggyback style.”
Elias looked around.
“Please. PLEASE. Do not say that in Kevin’s hearing.”
Unfortunately for Elias’s sanity, Kevin had made his way to the bench after the round had ended, and had arrived just in time to hear that line.
“Say what?”
Adrian grinned.
“Oh, that Elias was going to jump on someone’s back and try to get a piggyback ride.”
“That’s a great idea! Maybe we can sell it to Kelto. Get a giant pool and have two WarMACs fight each other while riding on top of OTHER WarMACs.”
Elias groaned.
“Now is not the time, Kevin!”
“It’s the perfect time. It’s halftime. We just won a round. That means the 6v6 is a time to play hard but not tight. The 6v6 battle is gravy before the Mass Battle’s turkey dinner!”
Amy was giggling.
Adrian pretended to take it seriously.
“Well, we’d better win both rounds, then. I like turkey, and whoever heard of turkey without gravy on top!”
That caused Amy and Kevin to start laughing louder, while Elias just shook his head.
Kevin handed out sports drinks to everyone and checked to make sure they didn’t need anything. Tex was flexing his hand slightly. Kevin grabbed a warm pack, wrapped it in a paper towel, and had Tex flex on it a few times.
Adrian raised an eyebrow at Kevin.
Kevin, however, was serious. He pulled Adrian aside.
“Hand cramps. I think he’s been so stressed about this tournament that he was gripping his controls too hard at times. His hands just need a bit of time for the muscles to stop clenching and spasming on him. When you make the next round, you may want to consider sitting him for the Duel Round.”
That received an old-fashioned look from Adrian. Kevin shrugged it off.
“Yes, I know, you’re going to say ‘IF’ we make it to the next round. But if we lose, there’s no next Duel Round. Besides, we’re going to win, right?”
Adrian had to grin at Kevin’s relentless positivity.
“We’d better. You know, I’m beginning to feel like I’m not needed here. Amy’s running the team while I rested, you’re acting like the team trainer, what is there for me to do?”
Kevin thought about that one for a moment.
“You? You’re the one who tells us how to make the other team go boom. And now that I think about it, you do more than your fair share of making things go boom too.”
He grew serious for a moment.
“With all due respect, Adrian? We’re the hands of the team. You’re the brains and the heart of the team. Don’t forget that.”
Kevin then resumed his normal mood, just to make sure things hadn’t gotten too sappy.
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