Zim stood stone-faced and stoic throughout the duration of the ceremony. Pretty words were said about the triumph, celebrations and salutations were issued for those that performed well. The subject of those who had not performed as well was sharply evaded, even unto the point that Zim and the rest of the Team from Joppa had been squirreled away as far from the front of the pack as possible and hidden amongst the crowd of soldiers and volunteers and dignitaries. When at last they there relieved of the doldrums of the ceremony Zim made his way back to base as quietly as he could. Once there he stripped out of his Class A uniform and slid back into his plug suit to make another attempt at the simulators.
Zim felt he had performed well in combat this time. He was the first member of Team Joppa to receive any damage, but it had actually been from friendly fire due to Zim rushing in and not waiting for Paladin's salvo to hit first. That was a stupid mistake and it cost him much of his protection. Protection that Zim thought might have allowed him to make it through the rest of combat in one piece. And when it was all said and done, it was a sniper that had taken him out. Zim's inability to safely and effectively close the distance against a sniper may have been a game changer too. There were a lot of what ifs involved. Maybe, if Black Star's armor wings hadn't been blown off then he wouldn't have taken the damage that destroyed the active jammers. If he still had the active jammers then he could have perhaps closed the distance with stealth or distraction. Even if the active jammer had been destroyed, the armor wings might have still taken enough damage to get Zim in close enough to deal with the opponent. And while closing the distance was the biggest obstacle for any combat situation for a melee combatant, the sniper is the melee's natural enemy.
As such, Zim entered the simulation pod again, plugging his suit up to the system and sliding the helmet over his head. A moment of darkness before the system recognized his authority to use the equipment, then the helmet activated and started displaying information. Zim already knew the numbers for the sniper category and with a few quick keystrokes a menu of scenarios popped up with variables listed beside them, quickly scrolling through them Zim found another simulation to run through. A brief pause while Zim waited for his settings to autoload and then a countdown timer to the start of the combat. Three seconds later Zim was in the cockpit of Blackstar leaning up against a building. Sensors were down, so the location of the sniper was a complete mystery. This scenario had two ways to win, survive and escape, or survive and destroy enemy sniper. Captain Ritsu had made it obvious before they descended to this terrible planet's surface that escape was not a viable option.
It didn't take long before the simulation ended with defeat. Frustrated Zim took the helmet off and leaned back in the pod and let out a long, low sigh.
Ariamis
Simple Unicycle