Perfect World VR (1) - Command and Conquer

They were led into a spacious hall with adequate lighting. In the middle of the hall, twenty human-sized capsules were kept circularly with two placed at the center.

[Cadets should please take their places in the capsules and await further instructions.] A female voice was heard from the PA system. Elena was the first to move forward, the others following closely behind.

Some were confident, others kept their cool and some others were slightly worried. No matter how much they prepared, this was still a test. They couldn't assume that there would be smooth sailing.

Nathan picked a capsule and pushed a button at the side. The capsule door slowly opened up after which he stepped in and it closed back down, leaving him in darkness.

"It's just a test. If you can't handle this, the real deal would be impossible to handle." Of course, Nathan was part of those that were worried. It took some time to calm his nerves.

[Prepare for Slumber.] Soon enough, the inside of the capsule lit up with blue lights on either end after which a faint gas was released.

Nathan felt his eyelids become heavy, his senses slowly dulled and his breathing was slowed. Before he could comment, he fell asleep.

At that moment, a device shaped like a helmet without the front and back sides moved from the top of the capsule and was placed on Nathan's head. A whirring sound was heard after which the device lit up.

Outside the capsule, on the capsule door, a screen suddenly appeared, detailing Nathan's brain activity and physical condition. This was to ensure the safety of every candidate.

Even though Perfect World was a safe device, there were times that cadets got too immersed in the world due to how real it was. That was something that had to be avoided due to its detrimental effects.

[Test two, Command and Conquer, will now commence.]

***

Nathan opened his eyes to find himself in what looked a lot like a warship. "Is this Perfect World?" He muttered to himself as he blinked a couple of times.

He put up his right hand and then his left hand to get a feel for them. "Amazing, it's almost like I'm in my real body." He thought aloud.

"Where am I anyway?" He glanced around. "Looks a lot like the cockpit of a warship. Wonder where the others are." Just as he got to his feet to look around the room, his watch lit up.

[All Red Wing Thunder squad members should report to the warship's core in fifteen minutes. Before you ask, the warship map is on your watch. Don't be late.] It was a message from Elena. "She didn't waste time to take charge as the Herald." Nathan mused as he shut off the holographic message.

"Thunder, I need the map for the warship," Nathan said. He tapped lightly on the watch surface. [Here it is, sir.] Came the robotic response.

Thunder sounded a lot like a British butler that had lived for a long period and had a lot of wisdom to impart to the younger generation.

A holographic screen appeared showing the layout of the ship. Nathan studied closely before nodding in satisfaction. "it's pretty well structured. But not for fighting though, more like for transport and as a command center. Wait, doesn't that mean this is not a warship?"

Nathan noted the absence of weapons in the diagram, which made his earlier observation of this being a warship, completely wrong. It was more like a supply ship built for land.

Another thing he noted was the general shape which reminded him of a certain animal that was touted by historians as the larger land animals known to modern man before the Annihilation war. "I think they called it the Elephant."

Nathan shrugged off his excess thoughts as he closed the holographic screen. He quickly headed for the door and once he approached it, a green light was shot out from a panel above the door.

It caused Nathan to pause momentarily as it scanned him from head to toe. Once it was done, a mechanical voice was heard. [Welcome Player Holt to the Mammoth.]

"Player?... So we aren't Guardians in this world." It was a random thought as he continued on his way, the door parting to make way for him.

Along the way, he met with some others and after a few minutes, they were all gathered in the core chamber which was the power source for the ship.

"I'm glad everyone could make it on time," Elena said as she stood before their group. "I'm sure you all are wondering what the mission for this test is, I was informed of it a little while ago but was told not to tell anyone until we were all gathered here.

"Anyway, I have sent the mission description to you all. Please read as fast as you can so we can begin. To my knowledge, we are on a time constraint." Elena finished off after which a beeping sound came from every other person's watch, signifying a mass text release.

Nathan tapped his watch and the screen appeared with a message icon, signifying a new notification. He tapped on it and the text was opened.

[Mission title: Command and Conquer.]

[Mission description: You are aboard the Mammoth, a supply ship built for the mining of energy nodes. It has been sent on a mission to collect three energy nodes placed at the North, East, and West sides of Krakatoa.]

[Mission objective: All three energy nodes have been taken over by The Machines Crawler units. Protect The Mammoth and also destroy the enemy to allow her to collect the energy nodes.]

[Note: The enemy is already aware of your presence and will do whatever they can to destroy The Mammoth. There is a limited time for this mission as they are already extracting energy from the nodes. Once the energy is gone, the mission would automatically fail.]

[Mission: Defeat the enemy and Ensure the Mammoth retrieves the nodes.]

[Good luck, player.]

Nathan reread the text a couple of times before he got a gist of what they had to do. "This looks simple enough," Jeremy remarked as he turned off his hologram screen.

"You should be aware by now that nothing is ever simple with Captain Rodgers." "So what do we do now, cap?" A green-haired male asked. He had a carefree and comedic vibe about him.

Nathan recalled him as the one that tripped the trap that nearly cost them the previous test. His name was Doug. At least, that was what he had introduced himself with.

"I believe we should carry out some recon first to figure out the strength of our enemies and also their actions. After that, we would plan our subsequent actions."

"Yeah, that sounds good enough." Elena felt relieved that her idea was accepted with the others already pitching methods in which to go about when suddenly a cough came through.

"Is there a problem, Nathan?" Nathan felt a bit shaken by the attention that came his way with the others pausing their discussions to glance at him, even though he had been the one to cough.

"… Oh Uhmm, wasn't there a part that warned us about the fact that the enemy is aware of our presence?... Doesn't that mean they could attack us at any moment?"

Elena's brows furrowed as she realized she had skipped that part. Just as she was about to comment, it happened.

***Boom***

The ship shook as it swayed left and right as if it had just been attacked. [Warning, Damage received; 5%. HP left: 95%.] Once the mechanical voice was heard, Elena's eyes widened. "We are under attack. Move out!!"

"Are we going to fight with our bare hands?" A brown-skinned lady asked. Her name was Tanya Lopez. "Get to the weapons vault and pick out your weapons!!"

[Damage received; 5%. HP left: 90%.]

The sudden attack caused them to panic as they were unable to quickly compose themselves. They were left shaken and a little panicked. In such a situation, not many would think straight, but there was an exception.

[Unshakeable Will activated.] Nathan stood his ground, his head was calm and his eyes were focused. He knew he could not lead the group, nor did he have the strength to go out and fight alone.

The enemy was unknown and their power levels were an even greater unknown, he would merely be throwing his life away by going out. Thus he did the only thing he knew he could do.

"Elena, you go first. I'll head to the control rooms and try to back you up." Elena stared at him for a moment before she nodded and ran out of the core chamber, Nathan following closely behind.