A/N
This is my first ever attempt to write a story, and I have no idea how long it will be. This is a story about a competitor in the Tournament depicted in UT2004. Content based on own playthroughs, I played the single player campaign 3 times, on different difficulties.
It is the beginning of the twenty-fourth century. The qualifications for the twelfth edition of the Liandri Corporation's Unreal Tournament are about to start. Last year's winners, team Juggernauts, are set on proving that last year's win in the Tournament was no fluke, and with the same members that won the title are now the favourites for winning. This tournament, however, has the most high-hoping teams ever. But there is always room for new talent. Avarice, a genetically mutated human, is one of the contenders in the qualification rounds for this edition. He's highly trained in the use of the Flak Cannon and the Rocket launcher, but most of all he's a fantastic tactician. While his accuracy isn't the best, he often compensates this with the sheer firepower of his two favourite weapons.
As Avarice walked into the grand hall of Liandri's building of Tournament Affairs, he is nothing but impressed by the grandeur of the hall. On the walls are 50 feet high portraits of the winning team's leaders of the past tournaments, with Gorge, the impressively large leader of team Juggernauts in the middle. On the floor is an enormous logo of this year's Unreal Tournament, constructed of pure gold and lapis lazuli. God, changing that every other year must cost a fortune, he thought. Looking at the detailing done on the walls and floor he walks over to the customer service desk.
"Hello sir, how can I help you?" the woman behind the desk asked.
"I've come to apply for participation in the qualification round for this year's tournament" Avarice said in his hoarse and aggressive voice.
"Oh, you must be on the opposite side of the hall for that, sir. Do you see the cyborgs behind the desks there?" Avarice nodded. "Well, that's where you have to be. Good luck sir!"
Without even thanking the lady, Avarice immediately walked to the desks. Luckily for him, there was no line, as it was still early in the morning. He looked over at the desk and before asking anything, he took a pamphlet with information about the possible dangers of participation. Heh, danger. I know exactly what I'm getting in to. But how did the human saying go again… No guts, no glory – something like that. Avarice crumpled the piece of paper into a small ball, and carefully tossed it towards a bin. He missed. Not seeming to mind, he walked over to the cyborg to finally register for his one and only shot at glory.
"I want to participate in the tournament. Is this where I can sign up for the qualification rounds?" He asked the stoic looking employee.
"You've come to the right place, sir. Here's a short form for you to fill, and I'll put you in the system right away!" The cyborg said in his way-too-gleeful voice.
First name: Avarice. Last name: Does not apply. Planet of birth: Abbadon. Year of birth: 2218. Current occupation: Army training.
After a few more of such questions, Avarice turned over the now filled-in form to the cyborg. The latter opened his robotic 'third eye', a laser scanner, and quickly scanned the form. After not more than ten seconds, he smiled at Avarice. "There you go sir, within seven days you'll receive a holo-message with everything you should know. I think your first qualification match will be in fifteen days.
This time, Avarice thanked the employee heartily for his help, before walking out of the building. The main square of this district was just now starting to get as crowded as it would be for the rest of the day. Avarice quickly paced over to the monorail station. He wanted to get to the large shooting range as quickly as possible. There were only limited spots there, and he now needed all the time he could spare for practice. He got there at 11 AM.
Hoping he was not too late, he ran into the large building used for shooting practice and teamwork practice. On the notification board he saw there was only 58 spots left. Relieved that he came just in time, Avarice scanned his member card and went to the changing room.
Having put on his armour pieces, he walked into the long corridor leading to the individual shooting ranges. After a few minutes of looking for an empty place to jack up his skills a little, he walked into the gun room. A selection of the standard guns used all around the civilized galaxy was neatly in a wooden cabinet, with a large stockpile of ammo for each gun next to it.
His first choice of the day was his beloved Rocket Launcher. The name of the weapon very much describes it's use: the Rocket Launcher fires a rocket, which explodes when it hits something. The maximum amount of rockets shot at one time is 3, although that takes charging. The rockets then travel relatively slowly towards the goal.
The goals in the shooting range were nothing more than titanium plates though. He put them on 'moving in lines, fast' and started shooting. As expected with one of his favourite weapons, every single shot he fired hit. Even the big blasts of an exploding rocked didn't do more than scratching the targets.
After practicing with a few other weapons, Avarice decides it's time to play an actual match of Team Deathmatch, against real opponents. Hoping some of his training buddies are there as well, he walks into the matchmaking room. There's not many people, but a Skaarj duo seems ready to fight a 2 versus 2 battle. Avarice scans the room for someone he knows, until he sees George, a black man who measures around 7 feet high, and is at least 3 feet 5 wide.
"George, you in for some fun? Those Skaarj over there seem to be ready to battle, maybe we should make them less eager to come here ever again!" Avarice shouted to his friend.
"Sure, Av! I don't like them folk anyway! Always been pretentious, even after they lost the war to the human master race!" He shouts back, making sure the Skaarj can actually hear him.
Together they walk up to the Skaarj and challenge them to battle. The Skaarj, eager to defend their pride against humans, agree without even thinking about it twice. Avarice inspected the two. Quite the fighters, these guys. They look like fast runners, and I'm sure they're aggressive enough to do some serious damage to us, but all in all they're still Skaarj, so their teamwork shouldn't be more than terrible, he thought. The four of them pushed the buttons to request a match. "Match starting in 5 minutes", a female voice announced in their headsets.
A/N
First chapter is done, guys! So glad I could finally make a start :D Next chapter will of course be the 2v2 Team Deathmatch, and after the match some plot, of course. Hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review :)