The Gladiator trainees threw themselves into their practice session with intense enthusiasm. Only two days remained until the mission date, so no one could afford to sit on their laurels. Ayumi and the other leaders led the ground team to practice simulated charges at the compound.

Working on the assumption that Suzuki and Natsu sabotaged the Centurion, the leaders chose to disregard stealth in favour of speed. As a result, Ayumi and a few other long-ranged Gladiators blasted a path through the minefield, allowing the melee and close-range units to race through unimpeded. It took a few attempts to judge the right amount of ammunition and the appropriate bombardment range. Still, they successfully got it down to a science.

Next, Kimuri led the melee units to charge into the alien compound, where they battled against several alien bots and Taiga, who fought in place of Cassia. This part proved to be much more complicated than anyone could anticipate. Taiga's Gladiator piloting skills were unparalleled. He effortlessly weaved through the attackers, cutting or shooting them down before they could retaliate.

Meanwhile, while the invasion squad figured out ways to defeat the unreasonable Taiga, a pair of Gladiators repeatedly smashed into the orbital elevator above with varying success.

"Switch to using 450 psi at point 320," Suzuki muttered as he appeared in the back of a drop-ship wearing a black Saboteur Gladiator. Although he preferred the Berserker models, they did not have sound stealth systems, so he settled for the Saboteur, a mix between stealth and combat.

While Suzuki calculated where he went wrong, a green Stalker appeared beside him. The Stalker's visor turned transparent, revealing Natsu's tight frown. "This is not going to work. The suits take too long to power up."

Suzuki and Natsu had been tackling the orbital elevator breach for over three hours. Acquiring a wingsuit module compatible with suits and RDK units did not take too long. The only downside was that it limited their movement, so they would need to detach it after landing. 

Their significant issues started when they began their flights.

Flying from the drop ship to the orbital elevator proved easy for the two pros. But, they fell into trouble when trying to decelerate. If they put too much power into the RDK, they lost forward momentum and thus fell short. Conversely, too little, and they smashed against the elevator. That kind of impact would set off alarms. And this was not considering the problem of turning on their suits.

On average, a Gladiator suit needed at least ten seconds to turn on with all safety checks. However, they could reduce the boot time to three to five seconds in emergencies. The problem was that three to five seconds was a very long time for the speed needed to reach the orbital elevator. They would drop if they killed their momentum to start the booting process. But, they could not activate the magboots to stick to the elevator walls without turning on their suits.

Suzuki and Natsu had spent the last two hours trying different permutations and combinations to solve their problem.

"Hey, how about we change our approach?" Natsu suddenly asked, drawing Suzuki's attention.

"Do you have an idea?" Suzuki paused his thoughts, taking the rival leader seriously. Even leaving out her performance as Brilith, Natsu had proven to be someone worthy of respect. He recalled when they first started their practice. He had asked her why she chose a Stalker. There was no guarantee they would not have to fight, and a Stalker would significantly hamper her ability to defend herself.

"This is not about me. It's the mission." Natsu had replied. "With a Stalker, I can use a drone to identify and keep track of Cassia's movements. It'll be easier for the second team to track and eliminate him even if he gets swept away by the flood."

Seeing as Natsu identified a problem even he had failed to notice, Suzuki held her opinion in the highest regard. "What do you suggest?"

"So, this is what we're trying to do now," said Natsu as she mimed a smooth downward curve that bottomed at a horizontal plane. "Our problem is that the window between slowing down and turning down our suits is too tight. We keep smashing into the wall." She then extended the curve, adding a sharp vertical downward slope. "What if we don't break our speed but aim to fly as close to the tower as possible? We can turn on our suits while falling parallel to the elevator. Slowing down with the magboots should not be a problem then."

Suzuki's eyes brightened in consideration. "Sounds feasible. But the elevator's exterior is not one smooth surface. There are many protruding parts. We'll need to avoid smashing into one while falling."

"Mhmm. So, do you want to give it a try?"

Suzuki nodded. "Let's do it."

Without another word, Natsu leapt out of the dropship.

Not one to fall behind, Suzuki quickly followed. Over time, he had gotten used to some of Natsu's personality. She seemed like the type who was eager to prove her worth, that she was as good as, if not better than, her peers. Suzuki did not know what drove her to be this way, but he was neither bored nor curious enough to inquire.

Suzuki cut through the clouds and then widened his arms and legs, revealing the wingsuit, which caught the air and shot him upward. Experienced, he manipulated his flight and steadily flew east until he caught up to Natsu.

Both pilots looked at the massive structure in the distance that pierced the heavens like a Divine Rod. Natsu snorted and then tucked her arms a little so she fell into a slight dive as she accelerated forward. 

When they were within fifty meters of the tower, Natsu hesitated. Would her plan work? Could they time everything perfectly?

Vwoosh! Suzuki zipped past the hesitating teen without a doubt in his gaze. When he was but a few meters from the elevator's wall, he somersaulted and spun around so he faced down with his back facing the pillar. When it seemed like he would splat against the wall, Suzuki cranked the RDK. A massive burst of air instantly counteracted his forward momentum, bringing him to an immediate stall mere inches from the wall. With his forward momentum arrested, the crazed daredevil could only fall parallel to the elevator.

Boom! Suzuki heard a significant air explosion above him, and when he looked up, he saw Natsu falling toward him. Heh. As expected, she was indeed the competitive type. She would never let Suzuki show her up, especially on her plan.

Suzuki's suit slowly powered on as he plummeted alongside the elevator. Along the way, he encountered several antennas, ladders, and other structures outside the elevator. He dodged with a well-angled airburst each time before returning to the elevator's side.

'Safety Check Complete. Gladiator Online.'

Eventually, Suzuki received the prompt he had been waiting for. The young man immediately angled his body again until he was parallel to the ground and activated his magboots at medium strength. The magnetic boots glued his feet to the wall. But due to the weak force, they did not wholly eliminate his downward momentum for another few meters.

Suzuki stopped roughly eighty meters off the ground. It was a comfortable height at which he could see the compound below, but those on the ground would need special equipment to spot him. Skrrr! Suzuki looked at Natsu, who slid to a stop beside him.

"How was it? Your plan paid off."

"Naturally. It's my plan." Natsu snorted and then looked at the compound. "We can practice the descent a few more times, but if it's alright with you, I want to start the infiltration practice."

Natsu's rude tone did not put off Suzuki. With a nod, he said, "Sure. That's my preference as well."

"Alright then. Hold on." Natsu opened a compartment on her left arm, letting out several tiny bees. "Mini-surveillance drones with full stealth capabilities," explained Natsu while closing the latch. "Ridiculously expensive, but worth the price. I don't need to buy any fancy weapon systems after all." Natsu commanded the bugs to fly toward the compound and then looked at Suzuki. "I'll share the feed. Accept the connection."

Suzuki accepted the invite, and soon, several tiny screens took up the upper left corner of his vision. While he could not control the drones, he could mentally select which screen to expand, reduce, hide or eliminate. Suzuki's eyes narrowed when one of the drones spotted a rather large alien in a battlesuit standing on one of the residential buildings' roofs. "Found Cassia. Screen 9."

"Mm. The drone will keep tabs on his movement," Natsu said. "Switch to Screen 5. I've found the Centurion."

Suzuki did as asked, and his eyes widened. While not as big as the mech Saeko piloted, the Centurion was at least ten meters tall. Like Saeko's Centurion, it was a thick, bulky frame packed with numerous missile launchers. Nearby, a rifle the size of a bus and a rocket launcher longer than three sat on the walls. These should be the Centurion's secondary weaponry after it ran out of missiles.

Having confirmed their target, Suzuki and Natsu activated their stealth systems. Already, a marked difference showed between both suits. A seemingly translucent silhouette remained in Suzuki's place, causing objects behind him to appear slightly distorted. It was not evident at a distance but immediately stuck out like a sore thumb within five meters.

On the other hand, Natsu seemed to have disappeared into the ether. Suzuki could not understand the technology behind it, but she was utterly invisible.

"Let's go."

Natsu's voice and the subsequent clanking of her boots against the wall revealed she was still next to Suzuki. Appreciative of the better stealth technology, the young man nodded and followed her down the elevator. The duo, wary of attracting attention, refrained from descending too quickly. As a result, they only reached the ground after five minutes.

"Hey, how long do you have on your camo?" Natsu asked after they ditched their wingsuit and RDK under boxes near the elevator.

"It says twenty minutes until heat dump. How about yours?"

"Mine's thirty. Should be enough time."

Gladiators, like most new technologies, ran on the nigh inexhaustible Nesla Coils, rendering energy cost worries negligible. Instead, their most significant problem became proper heat management. These machines compacted an excessive number of processes, weaponry, and many more minor machinery, which generated massive amounts of heat. Gladiators regularly vented heat with varying creative methods to prevent these machines from cooking their pilots alive.

Unfortunately, Stealth Gladiators needed to store that heat to avoid alerting heat sensors, thermal goggles, or cameras. But, they could only trap that heat for a limited time until it became too dangerous for the pilot. Better stealth Gladiators ran fewer systems to generate less heat, thus extending stealth time.

Natsu's Stalker was a pure stealth build. So, she could sneak around a lot easier than Suzuki's Saboteur. In turn, her Stalker would become a burden in a frontal battle.

With the aid of Natsu's drone bees, the duo successfully snuck past the patrolling guards until they reached the first factory-like building. Rather than go through the front, Natsu led them to a locked side door.

Suzuki frowned when he saw a keypad next to the door. "Do you have a door kit?"

"Yeah, It's part of the Stalker's default software," answered Natsu as she placed her hand on the keypad. Her suit interfaced with the keypad and swiftly launched an invasive hack. Fortunately, Natsu did not have to do anything as the program overrode the lock.

Kacha~ "We're in." Natsu entered the building with Suzuki close behind. Natsu's drones scouted ahead as the infiltrators made their way through narrow corridors before reaching a sizeable warehouse-like area.

A giant Centurion stood at one end of the warehouse, roughly ten meters tall. Similar to Saeko's Centurion, this one did not have any hands. Instead, a cannon took the place of the right hand, while thin twin barrels replaced the left. The Centurion cut a terrifying figure, enough to scare the living daylights out of anyone who saw it from afar.

"Oh. Wow." Natsu softly exclaimed as she sized up their target. "Now I understand why we must sabotage this thing to stand a chance."

"Mm," agreed Suzuki with a nod. "That's a real beast." He then softly tapped Natsu's shoulder. "You should retreat now. If I make any errors, we'll get drawn into a battle. Your Gladiator's not built for that."

Natsu frowned.

"Don't worry. I'm not trying to steal credit or anything. I cannot get to this part without your help. Whoever's scoring this competition won't forget that."

"Alright," Natsu acquiesced after thinking it through. Suzuki did not seem like the glory hunter type. "Good luck then." She then turned and made her way towards the exit.

Suzuki, meanwhile, pushed into the warehouse packed with aliens and robots working on maintaining the Centurion. The main path was too crowded, so Suzuki crawled up to a wall. Moving across the ceiling, he dodged all prying eyes until he landed on a walkway behind the Centurion.

Suzuki pulled out a set of tiny frisbee-looking devices and placed a few around the Centurion's head. Emboldened, he walked down the Centurion, leaving the mini bombs at several locations. Once he installed the final one, he snuck out to meet Natsu.

"How did it go?"

"I think the actual mission will have many more aliens, but it was a success nonetheless." With those words, Suzuki activated the bombs.

BOOOM!

In an instant, the ground rumbled with an intense rage that reverberated through the air as a massive explosion erupted into balls of flames that engulfed the entire building. The force of the blast was so severe that it shattered windows, cracked the ground and blew the roof clear of the building.

As far as the eyes could see, the aliens fled in panic as the flames rapidly spread. Each new building caught in the fire eventually erupted in more explosions as sensitive equipment combusted. The explosions seemed to go on forever, and even Natsu's eyes trembled at the extreme damage.

Suzuki, meanwhile, calmly watched the roiling flames. This was just the beginning; the real thing would be even worse!