Five minutes before the explosion: 10:53 pm.

HQ Outskirts.

Ayumi's brows furrowed as she watched Cassia. Perhaps because he wanted to check on his mech's maintenance, the alien general suddenly switched directions toward the maintenance facility. She quickly sent Natsu and Suzuki warnings, but only Natsu responded. The latter replied she was climbing the elevator, and it seemed Suzuki was in a place that blocked external signals.

Praying that nothing went wrong, Ayumi signalled Takahiro Ken, who stepped forward in a massive rhino-themed silver bombardier. "Prepare to light a path."

Takahiro nodded and switched his vision to a targeting system. Under his gaze, a three-meter wide, red path appeared between their position at the forest's edge, through the grass, and to the nearest chain-link fence. "Missiles primed and ready. Firing on command."

Ayumi's brows tightened even further when Cassia, as she guessed, truly entered the maintenance facility. The drone did not dare follow him inside, so it flew upward and peered through a window on the upper floors. From there, Ayumi's heart caught in her throat when Cassia glared at the ceiling without rhyme or reason.

Ayumi did not see Suzuki on the ceiling through the feed, which only made her feel worse. Suzuki's stealth was activated. If Cassia could sense him, they had severely underestimated the pilot! She dreadfully watched as Cassia pointed his rifle at the ceiling and shouted something.

Without hesitation, she shouted, "Fire!" and dashed out of the forest.

"Roger!" With a deep breath, Takahiro initiated his mech's offensive protocols. The massive mech's arm-mounted missile racks began to rotate, revealing hundreds of small, sleek projectiles ready to be unleashed. "Fire!" The mech's arm cannons roared to life, unleashing a barrage of missiles that filled the sky like a swarm of angry hornets. The projectiles streaked toward the minefield, each armed with a specialized payload designed to neutralize the deadly devices.

Usually, such raucous mayhem would have alerted the aliens, but Ayumi was not worried. No. The second Suzuki got discovered, she knew what that madman would do. BOOOM! Sure enough, her drone feed cut off, but not before she heard an explosion like the thunderclaps from the gods. In the distance, a gigantic, fiery mushroom burst into the sky, illuminating the minefield as Takahiro's missiles struck true.

Explosions erupted across the minefield as the missiles found their targets! Shrapnel and smoke filled the air, creating a chaotic maelstrom of destruction. Mines detonated quickly, their deadly blasts causing shockwaves that rattled the ground.

"Move! The general's last known location is the maintenance facility!" Ayumi charged across the field with gritted teeth, the others following closely behind. She was worried about Suzuki, but she knew the mission came first. So, she quickly sent a message asking him to confirm his status and then focused on the charge.

As they neared the fence, Ayumi smiled when she saw the massive tsunami wave crash into the facility, bringing with it death and destruction.

***

Following the explosion, Natsu peered through the visor of her combat suit as a lone figure flew out of the building and crashed through the neighbouring facility's roof. Before she could move, Natsu paused, a mixture of awe and dread filling her eyes as she witnessed the approaching wall of water. The immense tsunami, towering high above the horizon, was a force of nature, unlike anything she had ever encountered.

As the tsunami surged forward, its colossal wave crashing down the river, Natsu's heart pounded in her chest. The chain-link fence surrounding the base offered no resistance to the unrelenting riverine assault.

With an earth-shattering roar, the water slammed into the fence, ripping it apart like tissue paper. The torrent of water surged through the base's outer perimeter, sweeping away alien soldiers and demolishing everything in its path.

Natsu watched in amazement as the aliens struggled to maintain their ground. Buildings crumbled like sandcastles, and their vehicles were reduced to twisted wreckage. These temporary structures were no match for nature's furious power. The poor aliens, tossed around like rag dolls, desperately clung to whatever they could, but the relentless surge of water carried them away, their screams drowned by the sea.

Even the orbital elevator Natsu was on trembled as the waves crashed against the megastructure. Fortunately, the orbital elevator was a pivotal piece of equipment. Hence, the aliens designed it to withstand the most extraordinary stress. Aside from a bit of trembling, the elevator stood firm.

Gugugugu! Natsu frowned, feeling a familiar vibration coming from the elevator's interior. She quickly switched to the elevator-posted drone's feed before it climbed out of range. Sure enough, she saw several aliens cramped inside the elevator and many boxes. Evidently, the aliens near the elevator had rushed inside and taken the ride to the top to evade the tsunami. She ignored the aliens and switched the drone's camera to infrared mode. A small smile spread when she spotted a large crate with a red heat circle on its side.

Satisfied, she minimized the feed and turned her attention back to the base below. From her perch, Natsu surveyed the aftermath. The once-formidable base lay in ruins, submerged in a sea of wreckage and despair.

With the floodwaters subsiding, Natsu spotted a surge of Gladiators charging into the base led by a black leader. Smiling, she leapt off the elevator.

***

*cough* *cough* Deep within the wreckage of the second maintenance facility, faint coughs emanated from a Gladiator buried under a pile of rubble. Sparks gushed out of the Gladiator as it struggled to rise to its feet, pushing off rebar, concrete and more.

The damaged Gladiator had massive gaps in the armour where the explosion tore off vast chunks of armour. Suzuki's weary eye peered from half of the shattered mask as blood poured down his head and arms. Stifling a groan, Suzuki enquired, "Damage status?" while scanning his surroundings. He appeared to be in something resembling a small tunnel formed by clusters of shattered metal.

When his helmet did not respond, Suzuki cursed and removed it to inspect the damage. Sure enough, he found significant scorch and burn marks all over the helmet. Suzuki could not imagine the heat needed to melt sections of the helmet. Without it, his head would be bones and ash! That's how close he came to death.

Due to the damaged neural interface, Suzuki could not effectively control the suit. So, rather than rely on faulty equipment, he opened the Gladiator and jumped down. Plop! Water splashed around once the young man's feet struck the puddles. To his surprise, Suzuki found he was wearing a skin-tight black bodysuit that reminded him of Netrunners from the Cyberpunk franchise. Fortunately, he was wearing boots, or else he would have to trudge through the cold, damp tunnel with bare feet.

Not one to walk around without weapons, Suzuki retrieved a pair of short swords from the Gladiator's left and right legs. Without sheathes, he had no place to keep them, so he held the blades in a reverse grip. That made it much easier to walk with them.

Finally, Suzuki set the Gladiator's self-destruct timer to ten minutes. He could not permit the enemy access to proprietary equipment in a war, or they might reverse-engineer it to learn their weaknesses.

Suzuki's heart was strangely calm as he went through the treacherous tunnel, which seemed on the verge of collapse. Water dripped from the creaking ceiling, creating puddles that mirrored the uncertainty of his fate. The stench of burning metal and impending doom hung heavy in the air, intensifying the urgency of his escape. Navigating the dimly lit path, Suzuki's senses heightened, his every step measured and deliberate. Tiny beads of sweat formed on his forehead, a testament to the physical and mental drain.

Suddenly the darkness ahead erupted with bursts of light as several alien robots emerged, their metallic forms towering over him. The bots' red optical sensors fixated on Suzuki. Nary, a second later, they unleashed a variety of energy projectiles fired by rifles and arm-mounted blasters. Strangely, to Suzuki, time seemed to slow as the deadly blasts streaked towards him.

Suzuki recognized the phenomenon. This had happened to him a few times now. The previous times, his body could not react as he wished. This time, however...

With reflexes honed through three lives, Suzuki moved with a dancer's grace. He weaved through the energy barrage, body twisting and contorting in mid-air as he evaded each projectile by a hair's breadth. The sharp zing of near-missed filled the air, and the scent of burnt ozone mingled with the dampness of the tunnel.

'This is impossible!' The aliens momentarily blanked in shock. If Suzuki moved at the speed of light, they would understand and accept their loss. But the human's speed did not even break the speed of sound! Instead, he seemed to calculate the trajectory of every projectile from the barrel's position, allowing him to start dodging in advance, thus requiring only the most minor adjustments.

Seizing the moment, Suzuki struck before the aliens recovered. His dual short swords became a blur of motion as he engaged the closest alien. The blades danced with lethal precision, slashing through the metallic limbs and armour, rendering the first adversary immobile. Then, with a final, decisive strike, he dismantled the bot, grabbing its lifeless form before it clattered to the ground.

Without pause, Suzuki shifted his focus to the next assailant. Utilizing his captured quarry as a shield, he charged, muscles burning with exertion as adrenaline surged through his veins, heightening his senses even further. With each graceful dodge, the determined young man closed the distance, retaliating with calculated strikes that targeted the alien bots' joints, rendering them harmless. He could not find the control chips for quick elimination without his visor, so dismantling the limbs was his only option.

Though only a few seconds had passed, the skirmish took its toll on Suzuki. Though his movements remained, fluid and precise, minor injuries increasingly marred his body. His left arm bore a gash from a grazing shot, blood mingling with the floodwater that cascaded around him. Suzuki, however, ignored the pain. Pain was just a message to the brain. Rather than dwell on it, he used it to ignite a fierce determination.

As Suzuki pressed forward, relentless in his slaughter, a frightened alien, desperate to halt his advance, fired a rocket.

Suzuki just about dodged in time, but as a result, the rocket then struck the ceiling. The explosion tore through the compromised tunnel, its force reverberating through the damp air. Suzuki's surroundings shook violently, and a loud roar filled his ears.

Chunks of debris rained down, obscuring his vision. Dust swirled, choking the tunnel and diminishing Suzuki's ability to see a meter ahead. Amidst the chaos, Suzuki's mind coldly calculated the risks. The tunnel was collapsing, and with it, the chances of his survival took a sharp nose dive.

Suzuki forcefully suppressed his body's instinctual panic as he fought against the rising tide of water flooding the tunnel. The weight of the water pressed against the young man, threatening to drag him into the dark abyss. Suzuki's lungs burned for air as he grabbed an exposed rebar near the exposed hole, but his movements soon turned sluggish.

Just as Suzuki felt his strength wane and his consciousness slipping away, an armoured hand broke through the water's surface. Suzuki did not think before grabbing the hand. Then, with unyielding strength, his saviour pulled, snatching Suzuki from the jaws of death.

Suzuki coughed, desperately gasping for air once the saviour pulled him out of the tunnel onto dry land. "Fuck. I was sure that was the end." Suzuki softly cursed and then took a deep breath as he turned to look at his rescuer. "Natsu!?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Natsu's visor retracted, revealing her thin smile. "I thought about what you said: treating this like a real mission." Holding out her hand, she said, "Game antics aside, I would never leave a comrade to die in real life. So it only stands to reason I would come for you. What? Are you touched?"

"As if." Suzuki gratefully took her hand and stood up with her help. He discovered the tunnel was the top half-plating from one of the Centurion's arms. The explosion likely sent it flying after Suzuki, trapping him and the few lucky aliens underneath. Ironically, it saved his life from falling debris. "But, thank you for coming for me. I was truly out of options there."

"You owe me a life. Will you consider taking it easy on me in-game?"

Suzuki snorted. "That's between you and Kashi." With those words, he scoured the rubble until he found a rather large sword on the back of a disabled robot. Having lost his swords in the tide below, Suzuki rested the longsword on his shoulder.

Natsu looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. "You're not thinking of fighting armorless, are you? With a sword, no less. Do you think you're some anime protagonist?"

Suzuki shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever be that lucky. So, I made some preparations in case something like this happened." He smashed a robot, fashioning the carapace at its chest into a makeshift shield, and then looked at Natsu. "Help me send this code to the extraction team. They'll understand."

Natsu nodded and transmitted the code. While waiting for the response, her brows rose as she watched Suzuki break several robots before tying their outer shielding around his body to form makeshift armour. The crazy kid even emptied the inside of a bot's head, poked holes in the eye socket and then wore it like a helmet.

There was no doubt about it. Suzuki looked absolutely ridiculous in the hazardous, slapped-together armour. But strangely, Natsu could not bring herself to laugh at him. Just then, the awaited reply finally came in. "Trainee Natsu. Please inform trainee Suzuki we will make a pass in 5 minutes. The payload will be delivered at XX: YY. Godspeed"

Natsu relayed the information to Suzuki, who nodded with a grim look.

"Can you babysit me for the next five minutes?" Suzuki asked as he stood up.

Natsu nodded. Pulling a pair of metallic whips adorned with thorns, she promised, "I'm not exactly built for combat, but I should be able to stall long enough for some reinforcements."

"Good." Suzuki flexed his damaged arm and walked out of the collapsed building with Natsu. "Let's get to the drop-point. I can bet that Cassia isn't dead."

Suzuki paused when they got outside. The devastation was beyond his wildest imagination. The worst tsunami had passed, but it split the base in half, tearing down the underground dam used to cool the orbital elevator. At that moment, the river swirled past the elevator, seemingly content with its presence as it connected to the other end of the base.

Sounds of shooting and clashing metal rang out, drawing his attention to Ayumi and the rest, who engaged in close combat with the surviving aliens. Though, it was closer to slaughter than combat. The disoriented aliens did not stand a chance against the trainees, whose morale was at its peak.

The trainees were in high spirits as they charged toward the maintenance facility to confirm Cassia's death.

ROAR!

Just then, a deafening roar echoed through the air, shaking the remnants of the shattered landscape. The agents turned their heads in unison, their hearts skipping a beat as a colossal figure emerged from beneath the rubble. It was an alien of immense stature, his muscular form radiating raw power.

Cassia tore through the debris that had entrapped him with a mighty burst of strength, casting it aside like mere playthings. His eyes blazed with fury, piercing through the darkness with an otherworldly intensity. The air crackled with the energy of his anger as he fixed his gaze upon the trainees surrounding him.

"Filthy vermin," the alien spat, his voice resonating with a deep, guttural tone. "You dare to stand against us?!"

His voice echoed through the desolate landscape, a chilling proclamation of his wrath. The trainees tightened their grips on their weapons, their faces reflecting determination and unease. They had faced formidable foes before, but this alien's unyielding fury was unlike anything they had encountered.

Cassia's eyes burned with an insatiable hunger for vengeance, his towering presence casting a shadow over the stunned trainees. His battle suit rippled with power, each movement a testament to his formidable strength. The air crackled with anticipation as he flexed his massive hands, preparing to unleash devastation upon those who dared to defy him.

With a thunderous roar, Cassia lunged forward, his fury propelling him toward his human adversaries. The ground quaked beneath his weight, cracks forming in his wake. The agents braced themselves, their training and instincts urging them to stand firm in the face of this formidable adversary.

As he closed the distance, Cassia's eyes locked onto Suzuki, a mixture of malice and determination burning within them. The clash between human and extraterrestrial forces had reached its crescendo, the outcome teetering on the precipice of uncertainty.

With a final, chilling declaration, the alien's voice reverberated through the air, shaking the resolve of the human agents.

"I will kill you all! None shall escape my wrath!"