This is the greatest day of anyone who ever dreamed of being in the tournament. For the first time in history the Liandri Corporation was allowing anyone to sign up as a contestant in a new amatuer circuit, and whoever won the amatuer tournament was given a shot at the Unreal Tournament. All they had to do was win every match the entered and then secure a sponsor for the real was the shot a man who will come to be known as Ares was looking for.
Ares was a typical citizen, he went to work then came home to his dull life. But every chance he got he was watching whatever he could about the tournament. He was raised by his father who was a ex-tournament champion. Unfortunately his father, Andrew, was banned and relinquished of the win due to a infraction on the drug policy in the arena. So no one knew about it since it was so well covered up. Ares thought it was the perfect way to bring his family name into the limelight of tournament fame. He signed up as soon as he could.
"Sir, before you enter the amatuer circuit you need to pass a simple physical and weapons proficiency test." Ares acknowledged the nameless tournament employee and walked towards the room he was told to enter. This is really happening, I'm going to join the tournament. As soon as he entered the exam room Ares saw a very angry looking doctor in front of him. "Take off your clothes. I need to make sure you're physically capable of withstanding the arena." The doctor impatiently stood watch as Ares stripped down to nothing. The doctor grunted and then said "You seem to be in pretty good shape for being an accountant at some small town firm." Ares just chuckled and replied with "There's a lot of steps in the building. I do a lot of cardio."
"Well in any event, physically you are the most promising of the contestants I've seen. Well except for Kennedy. Anyway you can proceed to the next room….and I suggest you put your pants back on before proceeding." and then the doctor went into what looked like a small office. Ares put his clothes back on and started to head towards the next room. Kennedy? Who the hell is he?. Upon opening the door to the next room Ares was greeted with a barrage of gunshots and random explosions bombarding his eardrums. "Hey asshat! Get your ass over here before you get yourself shot!" came from the scantily clad woman a few feet away from Ares. Holy shit, that's Zarina! Ares stumbled over to Zarina before noticing the table covered with weapons. "So you want to join the tournament huh? Well you're going to need to know how to use at least one of these beautiful pieces of machinery. So which one speaks to you pencil pusher?" Hmm which one should I try first? By some force that can't be explained Ares was immediately drawn to the Flak Cannon. Zarina steps closer and smiles, "Ah, the Flak Cannon….What a elegant piece of weaponry. You know it was nicknamed the negotiator by the people who produced it? But I personally like to call it the gutter." Ares picks up the weapon and bounces it around in his hands feeling how it felt in his hands. Damn this feels good. It just feels like an extension of my body. Ares shoulders the gun and realizes it has no sights on it to aim with. "You're better off holding it at your hip. The things isn't designed to be accurate, but to simply put holes in whatever you point it at. Go try it in the battle emulation room." Ares steps into the battle emulation with an air of confidence that he never felt before. The well known announcer's voice boomed overhead "Match Begins in 5….4…." Zarina's voices covers the announcers in Ares' ear, "Hey I'll be talking to you through the comms network throughout the match. By the way that gun you're holding has two fire modes. The first is a shotgun like spread that shoots shrapnel all over the place. It's activated by just pulling the trigger. The second fire mode is an arcing grenade that explodes on impact. You can use it by pressing the button under the front end of the gun. Good luck and don't ruin my precious cannon asshole!"