The Ranked Game

By Mohammad Irfan

Chapter 1: Let the games begin

As the sun was setting down over the horizon, the crew on the deck of the cruise ship could not help but admire how beautiful it was. The glimmer of the pale yellow light over the sea looked so splendid. The last rays of sunlight had just drowned over the sea and most of the crew started to dwindle back to their rooms while some still stayed outside. The crew on the ship consisted of twenty Rank three officers, one Rank one officer as their head, and other staff such as cooks, maids, butlers, etc. The crew was out on a small cruise to an island, this trip was planned by their Rank 1 officer, Sir Brandon, just before their Rank Two exams. The Rank Two exam was a huge deal after all there were only Five Rank Two officers appointed in an entire year from a batch of over five hundred Rank Three officers. The fame, prestige, and of course the luxury that came with Rank Two were only second to a Rank One.

The sun has now completely set and the lights on the decks slowly started to flicker on. The faint fluorescent glow of the lights lit the deck just perfectly enough. Alex was sitting in his collapsible chair in a dimly lit corner of the open-air terrace of the ship. Alex was a man in his high 20s. He was 6 feet tall and was well built. He was wearing loose and comfortable clothes and was deep in his thoughts. His train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by a couple of individuals who suddenly barged in through the door. The sound startled him a bit he turned and looked around, it was Sir and Brackets two of the most enthusiastic and lively people on the deck. Both of them were of the same age and a little younger than Alex. They looked at Alex and joined him.

“Pondering about the R2 exams? ” Sir questioned.

They called Rank Two exams “R2” in short.

”Not really,” Alex replied.

”You should not worry so much after all you are one of the favorites for qualifying the exams” Brackets added with a smile on his face.

”I take that as a compliment coming from the guys who were the fastest to climb from Rank Six to Rank Three in our batch” Alex replied

”Well, but you know what everyone says about us, about how we are the loose cannons and all, and how we both messed up even our names on the entry form.” Sir added.

Sir and Brackets were not their original names, while writing their entrance tests for Rank Six, which is the beginners rank, they both messed up their names. Sir had a habit of adding Sir before his original name, so while filling out the entrance test application he wrote the Sir in the name slot and then was distracted by a bird which came to his window sill he watched it for a minute or two, suddenly the bell which signaled all the candidates to start writing their test rang. He then went on with his test, he assumed that he wrote his full name.

Brackets on the other hand, for some weird reason, wrote the symbol {} in his name slot. No one is sure why he did that, neither has he ever explained why he did so. Everyone just assumed maybe that it must have had something to do with his Physics background. When the names were called for the attendance in their introduction class, Sir and Brackets names were the last ones to be called; the examiner entered {} as Brackets in the system. Everyone looked at both of them and laughed at their funny names, Sir and Brackets both looked at each other and laughed even harder, soon they both became very close friends which was unsurprising as they both had almost similar personalities. It was perplexing that no one from the office staff tried to contact them about their names and Sir and Brackets also went along with it.

Although people laughed at them, their skills in battle were nothing to be laughed at. It was during a mock training session that happened when most of the officers in the group were in Rank Five. The goal of the session was to pit the closest friends against each other on the field and check how they perform. The goal was to see if they can keep their emotions in check on the battlefield if a similar situation arose.

It was hand to hand combat training, finally, both of their turns came. They both reached the center of the arena. Sir and brackets had completely missed the instruction on what this training was about since they were late to the training.

“What’s this session about and what are the rules?” Sir enquired to one of the two referees that were present.

”You both have to fight the person who is closest to you” The referee replied annoyingly to both of them. He was a Rank 4 and did not like them coming late to the session.

“So when can we start?” Brackets asked.

”Whenever you both are ready, go for it” the other referee replied.

Brackets and Sir both swung powerful kicks at the same time and they both hit their marks, they both hit the referees that were standing that is. The entire arena fell silent at once.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” One of the referees asked Sir.

”Well you told us to fight the person who was closest to us and you were the closest to me” Sir replied, completely oblivious to the fact that they both misunderstood the direction.

The entire arena burst into laughter, it was too hilarious how stupid they both can be.

The referees did not find it funny of course. They were not getting ridiculed by a low-rank and much more inexperienced officer than them. They stood up and both landed a solid punch on the participants. Brackets and Sir were taken aback for a second but soon they shook it back and got serious they both had menacing looks in their eyes. They continued the fight still believing that they had to fight the referees as their actual opponents. The fight continued and the results were shocking. Both of the referees were defeated. Everyone who was spectating the match was left in awe. A lower-rank officer had just annihilated a higher-rank officer.

Usually, in terms of skills and abilities, One Rank Five Officer is equal to Three Rank Six, One Rank Four officer is equal to Three Rank Five, and so on. So defeating a higher-ranking officer in combat fair and square was astounding.

That was the day when everyone realized that they can mock the personalities of Sir and Brackets but they cannot mock their bonafide skills.

"Well I think we should head inside, I think it's almost time for snacks," Alex said after he reminisced about the incident.

The trio headed down to the lower deck and joined the others in for snacks. All Twenty officers were present in the spacious hall. A band was playing slow-paced music that perfectly complemented the serene atmosphere. Cheers and peals of laughter filled the hall. Everyone was in a relaxed mood with occasional serious chatter about the upcoming exam.

Suddenly silence began to fall over the entire hall as a tall dark figure loomed in through the front door. He was the Rank 1 Officer, Albert. Everyone respected him for good reasons he was a Rank 1 Officer after all, while from Rank 5 to Rank 2, the higher rank is usually thrice more experienced than their preceding rank, the Rank 1 Officer is usually more capable than Seven Rank 2 Ones.

Albert was a 6'4'' tall man with powerful shoulders, a fierce dark face. He was 32 years old, with a chiseled beard and huge biceps. He wore black leather shoes and his eyes were grey. Everyone said that he was a powerful man. Everyone turned around and looked at him as he marched in through the front door. He reached the central area and then stopped.

"As all of you are already aware that this vacation is an escape from your daily hard routine and as a way to relax before your Rank 2 exams" He spoke with a clear voice.

"Well I have got an announcement for you guys, the Rank 2 exams will start right here and right now" He looked around at the astounded audience and smiled and said.

"Now now, no need to fret over it, they won't start on the boat, you will have all the details you need will be sent over to your rooms shortly."

As he walked out of the room he was smiling, why would he not smile? The exams were a sort of Battle Royal. He would get to witness all his officers battle it out for the top spot, and it put a smile on his face.

"Now, Let the game begin," He said to himself.

Chapter 2: The Night before the games

An eerie uneasiness fell over the hall as soon as Albert had left. The meaning of his words started to slowly dawn on everyone. They had no idea what kind of exam it would be. Will they all be each other's foe?

All the officers started to scatter back to their respective rooms, bidding goodnight to each other. Alex reached his room too, the officers were given separate bedrooms and bathrooms. On his front desk, he found an envelope that enclosed the rules for the test. It went as follows.

Description About the test:

The test shall be conducted in a battle royale format match on the island. All the officers will form a pair and they will have to battle it out for the top spot. The last person standing shall be promoted to Rank 2. Officers will be sent out in small boats from the cruise ship towards the island at regular intervals. They will be allowed to choose a primary weapon of their choice before leaving.

All the officers will be wearing the newly developed, highly sophisticated suit. This suit will indicate their health starting from one hundred health and once it reaches zero the officer will be removed from the game.

The weapons are designed to damage this suit without dealing any significant damage to the person wearing it.

In short, it will be a mock battle royale simulating real-life conditions.

Shops:

Additionally, there will be shops located at various spots throughout the island. Officers will be provided with one hundred tokens initially to exchange at these shops. Shops will have a 500 meter of no engagement zone around them. Each team can leave that zone every two minutes.

All of them will be provided with a wrist gadget that will indicate this zone. Additionally, it will also show the engagement zone of the island in which they can move around. The engagement zone will keep shrinking slowly and if the officers are outside it they will start losing their health as it will be registered on their suits. The gadget will also show their health and available tokens.

They are not allowed to pick up weapons from the officers they have defeated. An officer can continue even if their partner is defeated.

Alex closed the paper and put it back on the desk he had almost gone through the entire rulebook, one rule in particular concerned him a little. Although other than that, he thought it was a well-rounded setup without any exploitable loopholes.

Alex was not the only one getting prepped up for the event. In the adjacent room, Thomas was warming up too. Thomas was a man in his high 20s, having an exceptionally well-built body and huge muscles.

The night was slowly getting darker and darker, by now all the officers had their dinner. Suddenly an announcement blared through the intercom.

"Officers Thomas and Shawn report to the front deck" It was Albert's voice.

They are starting it right now? Alex thought to himself. He was expecting them to start going to the island by dawn, night-time was not an ideal time for this. But maybe they are testing them to be prepared against the unexpected. He thought to himself.

His window was facing where the officers were being summoned. He saw them head into a room to get their gear handed out to them and get all the preparations done. After a few minutes, he saw them coming out of the room, fully geared up, and heading into a small boat. Thomas and Shawn stepped into the boat and sped off. The cruise ship was now roughly one kilometer away from the island and was circling it.

He found it weird that the officers on deck were made aware of who, when, and where the previous officers were leaving the boat. Even with the pitch-black night, they can still judge which part of the island they were headed off to. He thought it was unjust to give even a minuscule amount of intel just based on the luck of the draw. The preceding officers would have a good general idea of where everyone is on the island. This fact made him feel a little uneasy.

The night kept progressing on, every pair was being sent to the island roughly thirty minutes after the preceding one. A total of sixteen officers were sent by now.

"Officer Alex and Rachel report to the front deck," Albert's voice through the intercom echoed.

Alex and Rachel met at the front deck. Rachel is a 5'8'' tall woman, she is in her 26s, she has a long mane of silky black curly hair, broad shoulders, sharp eyes, and an intelligent aura about her. They both went into the room to get geared up, after getting suited up with the vest and equipment it was time to choose their weapon.

"What do you think we should go with?" Alex asked.

There were four options, they could only choose one each.

An AR-33, good for medium to long-range. An SMG-33, good for close to medium range. A Knife that was very lethal at close range. Lastly, a Sniper rifle.

"I do not think either of us would be good with a knife as it will require us to be sneaky and very nimble on our feet. Sniper is a good option but given that it has no silencer, it is risky as it will alert others of our position and possibly make us susceptible." Rachel replied after some rational thinking.

"Well SMG and AR it is then" Alex replied.

They took their weapons, put them in their bags, and went out of the room and onto the boat. Once they started driving Alex's attention drew over to the dashboard, he looked at it and smiled. On the dashboard was a GPS which marked the spot where they had to drop-off and it was not in the straight line from the ship. So they did think this through after all. He thought to himself.

They reached the island shortly and got off and were getting ready to set up. The first line of business was to find a spot to camp through the night and get some rest. Luckily they found it relatively effortlessly. They took turns to sleep and watch over just in case there was any trouble around, but the chances were small. No one would risk going out at night as most of them would be weary. Most of the officers did the same.

Chapter 3: Baited and Trapped

The sun was starting to rise and Sir and Brackets woke up, they both were paired together on the same team. They headed out early to scout the area. They soon found the shop and were notified through their gadget when they entered the no engagement zone.

"Lucky us, we found one so soon." Brackets cheered up.

They headed out to the store and made some purchases. While heading in Sir knelt and tied his shoelaces. Brackets bought some ammo for his Sniper rifle that he was carrying on his back in a huge bag. Sir had an AR.

They did not notice they were being watched by William and Brandon who were perched on the top of a tree. William and Brandon looked at them and smiled. They both have the perfect counter to Sir and Brackets.

William had a knife that could be used against Brackets at close range. Brandon had just bought a shield and he had an AR. Shields were the most expensive item in the shop, costing 100 tokens, only one officer per team could have it. Shields can block all the incoming damage from AR, SMG, and physical damage. They were vulnerable to Sniper Rifles though.

Their plan was Brandon takes on Sir with a shield to engage his AR and then William goes after Brackets with a Knife at close range. They could not lose that battle if it goes according to their plan. Sir and Brackets exited the no engagement zone while William and Brandom watched the path they took. They had to wait for two minutes before leaving it. When the timer ended they were in hot pursuit of the duo. Soon they caught up to them, it was surprisingly easy as they did get too far which was unexpected. It is a wise move to get far away from no engagement zone as soon as possible to avoid having anyone on your tail.

Sir and Brackets turned around and saw them approaching and got ready to engage. Brandon immediately started charging toward Sir with his shield up, Sir engaged him with his AR. William headed towards Brackets with his Knife. Brackets started to pull out his gun from his bag, William was confident he could easily dodge Sniper at this close of a range. Brackets pulled out his gun and started spraying down William and his HP soon went down to zero. William was shocked. The gun Brackets was holding in his hand was not a Sniper but an AR. He baited them with the long bag and the purchase of sniper ammo. Brandon was shocked with the turn of events too, he still hoped to pull a miracle and take out both of them or at least take down at least one of them with him.

Sir threw what looked like a flashbang towards Brandon, instinctively Brandon ducked, but he soon realized that flashbangs were not available on the shop or the ship. It was too late by the time he realized Sir had already closed the distance on him; he jumped on his shield, got behind his back and sprayed him down. It was a perfect win for them.

Later Sir revealed to his fallen opponents that he knew they were being watched. He saw the leaves were crumpled under a tree he knelt to fake tying his shoelaces and saw some light footsteps visible. It was evident someone was watching them perched on the tree. Brackets even bought Sniper ammo to solidify him carrying a sniper.

It was around 9 o'clock, Alex and Rachel were also just finished a battle they took down Peter and Adrian. They checked their wrist gadget it showed they had eighty and seventy health each it also showed fourteen officers remained in the game. They started heading towards the engagement play zone. One of the rules in the rulebook still was looming over Alex's head. It mentioned that ALL the officers on the island are their enemy, this also included the possibility of teammates betraying each other. Although it will put one at a disadvantage if they were to face off against a duo.

Chapter 4: Betrayal

Sarah and Chloe were resting beside a small stream, the afternoon heat and all the running had got to them, the suit being heavy did not help much. While they were rejuvenating they were suddenly ambushed by Alfred and George, they both had AR. The sound of the stream masked the sound of their approach. They reacted swiftly though and both got their shield up.

Alfred and George were shocked, they had checked at the shop that only one member per team could have a shield.

"How did you both get your shield," Alfred asked curiously.

"It's none of your business" Sarah replied.

It irritated them off and even though the shield was almost invincible to AR, they believed they would somehow overpower or outmaneuver them. They continued with the assault. Sarah and Chloe started to trudge back slowly into a slightly open area. Alfred and George were still heavy on the assault.

Suddenly two shots echoed through the air. "Boom, boom"

Alfred looked at each other. They both were hit with Sniper from upstream and they both had only twenty health remaining. The boys turned their attention upstream and they saw the glint of two snipers sitting side by side. It did not make sense. Why would someone pick two Snipers on the same team? What if they were engaged in close or medium combat they would be at a tremendous disadvantage. Also, the girls down here both had two shields. It did not make sense. While they were distracted by the snipers up top, Sarah and Chloe swapped out their shields, pulled out their AR, and took the boys down.

They later revealed to them that they were working together. Sarah and Chloe were on different teams. The snipers were Diana and Emily. Sarah and Diana were on the same team and Chloe and Emily were together on the other team. The girls had a standoff a while earlier and they decided to work together, as they had slim chances to win if they were up against a team with two male officers they would be physically at a disadvantage.

"So you guys allied," George said annoyingly. He was upset that they were taken down four versus two. Still, he should have suspected something was off when he saw two girls from the same team both holding shields.

Although, such alliances are very fragile and can snap at any moment. As soon as the thought came to his mind, he heard another loud shot that echoed through the air. All of them looked up and they saw Emily shooting down Diana who was still prone. "Boom" another shot rang and Diana's health bar reached zero. While they were distracted by what was going on at the top. Chloe pulled out her AR and shot down Sarah, while she had her guard down.

Chloe and Emily's team took down Sarah and Diana's team. Sarah was infuriated with rage, but there was nothing she could do. They both already lost. Alfred and Geroge had a good laugh out of this.

Chloe and Emily did not escape unscathed; they had seventy and fifty health remaining each.

They checked their wrist gadget, only eight people remain now. It was the perfect time to break their alliance. They had previously communicated with each other that they would backstab their alliance once the number of officers remaining reached ten.

Chapter 5: The Final Eight

Thomas and Shawn were slowly combing their way through the island, they both had ninety and eight health respectively. They had an engagement with Henry and Roger earlier in the morning, it went well.

They both saw Sir in a straight path up ahead, they fired at him a few times, doing bare minimum damage though. It alerted Sir and he started to run away on the path. Thomas and Shawn were in hot pursuit. They also did not spot Sir's teammate so they kept a keen eye on their surroundings for flanks.

Sir continued on a straight path and he kept running and jumping. Soon Thomas noticed something, he saw Sir jump a pile of leaves. He smirked.

"Do you think that old textbook trap would work on us?" He laughed.

They both side-stepped the ditch and continued through the bushes. As soon as they both took a few steps an explosion occurred at their feet.

They both had triggered the land mines and got the full force of it. So the ditch was only a fake trap to lure them into this. Land mines were an insanely risky move they cost fifty tokens each and can be triggered only if someone steps on them. Once triggered though they can take out an opponent completely.

Sir and Brackets plan was a well thought out plan, but they underestimated the blast radius of the land mine and they also got the brunt of it. Brackets was lurking close to the trap in case something did not go to the plan, he was there as backup.

Sir and Brackets had forty and thirty health remaining respectively.

They started to move on further in toward the zone.

On the other hand, Alex and Rachel took down Chloe and Emily. It took a toll on them too. They had forty health remaining on each of them.

They also started to move towards the zone. The only ones remaining were now these four officers Alex, Rachel, Sir, and Brackets.

Chapter 6: The Finale

The engagement zone grew very small and soon both the teams were face to face with each other. The team both scouted their opponents, they both judged that all of their health must be at least below fifty but neither of them underestimated the other. The fight was a long drawn one and in the end Alez and Rachel emerged victorious. They both headed off to the cruise ship which had now reached the island. Albert stepped out of it,wearing the suit, with two other rank four officers. ”Well done you two are the last one reamining, now you have to decide who will be the victor” He said, presenting two knives forward.

Alex and Rachel both looked at each other the moment had finally come, everything was on the line for this one. Rank two was so close now. They just had to take the person standing down. Alex and Rachel both reached for the knives at the same time they looked at each other and both slashed the knives. They both took down the Rank four officer and then the duo went after the Rank One officer Albert. They managed to pin him down too.

“Every person on the island is an enemy” Alex quoted the line from the rulebook. Albert laughed heartily and looked at him. ”Very well done,” He said. Later when they reached their Headquarters, both Alex and Rachel were promoted to Rank Two. It was an exceptional feat and has never occurred before that two Rank Two officers were promoted at the same time, but their performance justified the result.

By Mohammad Irfan