It always felt strange fighting someone... suboptimal. 

Too much was given up for free. Feints cut to the bone. Positional maneuvers felt like checkmates. Her every form and transition was perfect, her mind smooth, reactive and faultless. She was ready for a challenge. She could do this without all of these... gifts. She could do without the reminder that there was only one way to be perfect. 

With speed born of frustration she unlimbered her battle rifle.

> Of course I had this planned.
> I'm offended that you did not.

She repositions on foot rapidly to the west and drops into a low, stabilized crouch. The Supernova had correctly identified that this was a battle of heat management but had failed to identify that it was also a battle of visibility. Now the Supernova was up there in the sky, red hot in the empty air, visible for hundreds of miles in every spectrum. The Aeteline was down here in the smoke, the fires that burned along the exterior indistinguishable from the fires that burned the forest, the metallic particulates of the pyrex bombs scattering radar signals wildly. She had bet that a startled cat would jump directly up, managing her emotional state by gaining altitude. 

She was aware of how predictable her maneuver was. Awareness was insufficient. 

Minimal power to movement, only needing small random displacements to maintain concealment. No thruster burn. She could put everything into shields and targeting. Your opportunity to make this a battle of skill was lost the moment you disengaged. Now it's just hit points ticking down until you realize your mistake. Was it to much to expect her rivals to think about what she might do before she did it?

[Fight: [b]9[/b]; inflicting a condition, taking a superior position]