It was Victor Long and his team of slightly over a hundred mechas.


    Under the shade of the massive trees all around them, Priamus and his men only managed to catch a quick, unclear glimpse of the ck bands upon ck mechas before battle was joined.


    "Attack!! Kill them all!!" Priamus roared. He was a goodmander, and he knew they key to any sessful defense was an aggressive offence within the confines of a defensive strategy.


    His men, I mean, his boys responded enthusiastically and sent their mechas charging forward to meet Victor Long and his hundred mechas in a ferocious battle.


    However right before they shed, in a brilliant but highly risky move, Victor Long and his boys suddenly turned around and charged back out the way they came!


    "Press the attack all the way until the tree line!" Priamus ordered.


    In a chaotic turn of events, Victor Long, with his hundred mechas, was racing back towards the tree line with a thousand five hundred mechas chasing after him in hot pursuit.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The mechas stomped heavily in a blind charge.


    At that moment, from outside the tree line, the raucous sound of even more mechas charging towards them suddenly rang out!


    "Defensive formation! Stay within the tree line and repel the enemy!" Priamus shouted his order calmly.


    Expertly, his boys slowed down and dressed their lines as they prepared to meet the charge of the additional enemies.


    Ahead of them, Victor Long and his boys swerved to the left to avoid crashing into the iing mechas.


    "Charge in! Kill all of those bastards!" Came the furious roar of the leader of the new group of mechas.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In a massive wave all across the entrance of the wooded area of the eastern slope, almost two thousand mechas charged in and started to engage Priamus and his men!


    "Kill!! Kill those irritating cowards!!"


    "So you finally decide to stand your ground huh? You bunch of perverted boys! Die! I hope you choke on YOUR momma''s titties!"


    The neers were strangely filled with rage and kept spouting a whole lot of nonsense about momma''s titties.


    Not to be outdone, Priamus and his soldiers shot back at them and started insulting their momma''s titties too!


    The verbal slugfest exploded with a ferocity that dwarfed even the physical fights that were taking ce in that dark and shadowy forest.


    All sorts of colourful words describing a whole lot of momma''s titties in all sorts of bizarre applications started to sound all over the battlefield.


    On and on they fought, spears colliding heavily against shield and swords shing against each other.


    Very soon, mechas from both sides started ckening as the fighting in nearplete darkness finally started to im casualties.


    Tens. Then hundreds of mechas started to fall!


    "Damn it! These first years are pretty good! Don''t give up! Keep fighting!" Came a shout of frustration from the neers.


    "Holy smokes! These first years sure are ferocious!! We are starting to take casualties!" Came a shout of shock from one of Priamus'' soldiers.


    "Press the attack! Go all out!" Shouted an angrymander from the bunch of neers.


    "Wipe them out at all costs! Do not hold back your secret techniques! Kill!" Priamus shouted desperately.


    The casualties started to mount.


    However, the gifted students under Priamus were a bunch of ferocious fighters, and their advantage in skill as the pride of the academy finally shone through the murk of the situation.


    Their losses finally stabilized at around five hundred as their higher discipline and ability to support each other in battle allowed them to take down two mechas before sumbing one of their own.


    Within that first ten minutes of intense fighting, a thousand of the neers fell.


    "You first grade bastards! You will regret being so cocky!" Howled amander of the newers as he fell under thebined attacks of two soldiers.


    "First graders? What the hell are you talking about? We are from the gifted program, under Priamus Jin!!" Shouted the soldier back even as his sword prated themander''s torso.


    "Holy… Don''t tell me…" It was thest thing themander managed to utter before he ckened.


    "Priamus!! I don''t think they are firs-"


    "Die!! How dare you kill ourmander!" Came a howl of anger before a sharp spear crushed the gifted soldier''s mecha head into pieces.


    "Damn it! We aren''t first graders you bozo! We are being tricked!" The other gifted soldier shouted as a horrifying realization bloomed in his heart.


    "Liar! Die!!!" The neer soldier shouted before charging at the gifted soldier.<novelnext></novelnext>


    But the gifted soldier was too skilled. She easily dodged the wild attack and reluctantly stabbed the neer''s torso in a killing blow.


    "Priamus!" She shouted loudly. "These aren''t the first graders!"


    "Fall back! Defensive formation!" Priamus barked out a sharpmand.


    The newers did not hesitate, and immediately took the chance when their enemies were trying to regroup to press their attack, iming tens of new casualties in an instant.


    "I am Priamus Jin of the gifted program! We are not the first graders!" Priamus Jin roared out loudly. "Stop fighting! We are being tricked!"


    "What? Hold! Stop fighting!" Came the shout from the neer''smanding officer.


    But before his soldiers could all respond, an excited shout suddenly rang out from Priamus'' side.


    "The ruse is working! Charge now! Charge!!!"


    Immediately, five mechas charged out from Priamus'' side and rapidly killed their targets!


    Seeing that, a howl of irrepressible rage sounded in unison from the neers and they exploded forward with even more ferocity than before!


    They threw themselves upon the "lying bastards" and some even unleashed suicidal attacks!


    In the words of General Anthony Chang himself, it was a "beautiful cluster f*ck".


    Two thousand fourth graders charged into the eastern slope that day against one thousand five hundred gifted kids under Priamus Jin.


    Only fifty three fourth graders remained standing at the end of the battle, with only one hundred twelve from Priamus Jin''s side.


    Priamus Jin himself had fallen in battle.


    "As we were saying earlier. We are not the first graders. We are from the gifted program, hunting the first graders like you." Emma Whitefrost said grimly.


    The hundred sixty five exhausted mechas could only stand quietly as the full realization of what they had done sank into their hearts.


    Searing regret erupted in excruciating waves out of their very souls and coursed through their veins like hotva.


    shes of their feats previously appeared in their minds, and made their regret all the more powerful knowing that they did it against their own allies.


    "FFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*KKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!" Howled the survivingmander of the newers.


    And like a dam bursting, every single one of the one hundred sixty five mechas started to shout and curse at the first graders wildly.


    But before they could get much of their enormous rage and regret out into streams of curses…


    Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!


    The final straw that broke the camels'' back arrived.


    The real first graders marched in with their rifles zing, and mowed them down.


    In a real battle, it would be a merciful act as the hundred sixty souls would be put out of their misery as death brought them into his sweet, sweet embrace.


    But it was not a real battle.


    Their mechas merely ckened, and their misery continued unabated within the confines of their imprable cockpits.


    I would be very surprised if those kids did not leave that particr battle untraumatized.


    "Damn it! I will be back!" Emma swore loudly as she shot high into the sky and weaved her way out of the torrent of rifle fire that nearly covered the sky. But with so many trees providing cover for her, she was able to escape cleanly.


    The battle was over.


    It was a massacre once more, and the fourth one that day.


    In a matter of a few short hours, Sheera had massacred twelve thousand seniors in cold blood, and only sixteen thousand remained.


    All at the cheap price of seven hundred fifty of her own mechas. Three thousand five hundred mechas remained in her own army.


    "I don''t know if I should feel pissed off or ecstatic." Admiral Terry Wei sighed. "All those hotshots we had picked for the past few years had extremely dismal performance. But we have a new batch of superstars that had the potential to be ace pilots the likes of which we have never seen before!"


    "Ecstatic. Of course ecstatic! Did you not see how Victor Long performed? His trick was perfectly executed! He is the MVP of the entire battle!" General Peter Long said excitedly and very biasedly.


    "I agree. Although I am slightly disappointed with Priamus and how he executed his battle ns, this loss would be good for them. It would burn a real fire in their hearts. And yes. The new batch of kids in the National Mecha Pilot Academy… Hehehehehe." General Anthony Chang chuckled.


    "Hehehehehehehe." Admiral Terry Wei chuckled.


    "Hehehehehehehehehehe." Even the grouchbag General Peter Long chuckled.