"What the fuck? Not even a scratch?" Under the pale moonlight, Suzuki, Natsu and the others stared at the enraged Cassia. The air crackled with equal parts anticipation and dread, set alight by the alien creature glaring at them with blazing intensity.

Cassia's alien eyes, filled with fury and determination, fixed upon Suzuki in the distance. He paid no heed to the many Gladiators, his sole focus locked onto the exposed human. "You." Cassia's eyes turned red, recognition apparent in his glare.

How did he recognize Suzuki? Cassia did not grant them the time even to ponder that question!

Thrusters on Cassia's back ignited before anyone could react. ZOOM! With an explosive surge of energy, Cassia launched towards Suzuki in the blink of an eye, his movements fluid and calculated. His massive frame moved with astonishing speed, instantly closing the distance between them. The sheer force behind his subsequent punch created a gust of wind that parted the shallow waters.

Eyes wide, Suzuki's instincts kicked in. Faced with strength many times above his, the youth just about swung the large, salvaged sword. Sword struck an armoured fist in an explosive blast, temporarily clearing the waters around them. Unfortunately, without his suit, Suzuki was severely underpowered in the confrontation. The strike sent him flying, but not before he grabbed Natsu, pulling her along.

Cassia, meanwhile, frowned. He felt the impact, but something was not right. He quickly replayed the previous exchange in his mind. As expected, he found the discrepancy. Though it seemed like his punch sent Suzuki flying, the youth had leapt backwards one second before he threw his punch. As a result, Suzuki willingly transformed most of the momentum to assist him in clearing the distance. If he wasn't so enraged, Cassia might have been impressed by the crazy instincts.

However, Suzuki destroyed his mech. As a pilot, Cassia would never forgive whoever blew up his mech! It was irreconciliable! The mad general braced to chase the fleeing culprit but quickly retreated. BOOM!

The ground where Cassia had erupted with violent explosions as dozens of rockets rained down quickly. "Vermin!" Cursing in anger, Cassia's engines roared, but he turned and punched behind him. BANG! Sparks flew as his fists struck a pair of daggers, sending their wielder skidding back. Cassia turned around to see a slim, sky-blue Berserker. The custom fox head revealed its wielder's identity.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kimuri's uncharacteristic soft growl charged the air with an intense fighting spirit. The young man's attack bought the others the few seconds required to set up a good perimeter around Cassia's colossal figure.

"Fine," Cassia growled as an intimidating helmet reminiscent of a forsaken demon formed over his head. The demon's red 'eyes' met the collective determination of the trainees, a silent understanding that this battle would play a significant stake in the fate of this planet.

"Fire!" Without standing on ceremony, Ayumi led the ranged fighters to open fire. The air cracked with energy as a storm of projectiles hurtled towards Cassia's imposing form.

Faced with the onslaught, Cassia snorted. The alien general activated a shimmering forcefield, its ethereal energy repelling the onslaught of incoming attacks. The lasers and missiles fizzled out against the barrier, leaving Cassia unscathed.

"So, that's how he survived the explosion." Ayumi's eyes narrowed, but she quickly adapted. "Be careful; the enemy is capable of deploying a forefield. We don't know whether it's an innate ability or tied to his suit. Ranged units use low-calibre, large-quantity rounds to test the shields. Melee fighters. Get in there. Let's see how he does in close-range."

A few initially dismayed trainees quickly regained their poise under Ayumi's calm orders. Several Gladiators charged at Cassia, wielding gleaming swords, spears and halberds that crackled with deadly potential, their swift movements a testament to well-honed combat training.

Cassia, however, met their onslaught with grace and skill that belied his massive frame. He blocked, dodged and parried their strikes precisely, moving with a fluidity that defied his size. Undeterred, the trainees' blades clashed against Cassia's armour. Ayumi's eyes narrowed from a distance when she noticed several strikes just stopping short of hitting the armour. It was not the instantaneous stop that occurred when some struck a barrier. Instead, the blades aggressively slowed down as they fell into dense jelly.

Cassia launched a fierce counterattack while she tried to work out what was going on.

With a mighty swing of his arm, Cassia sent one of the trainees hurtling backwards until she crashed into a concrete wall. Unhesitant, he pressed his advantage. Relentless, he struck, his attacks calculated and delivered with a terrible force that shattered the trainees' defences. The trainees, rattling in their damaged Gladiators, coughed up blood as they were tossed aside like discarded toys.

****

While the trainees suffered, James entered the conference room, munching on popcorn. Grinning, he winked at Saeko and Taiga before walking over to Akari.

"Hey, hey... the kids really blew up the Centurion. Do you know how annoying it is for a developer when the players bypass their greatest challenge?" complained James. Akari would have believed him were he not grinning from ear to ear.

Instead, Akari rolled his eyes. "Stop pretending. We both know what you have in store for them."

James chuckled. "But it seems we might not even get to see it. Doesn't look like the kids can hang on much longer."

"Don't count your chickens just yet." Taiga's rude tone drew James' attention. The young man, lips pulled into a sneer, remarked, "The madman isn't there yet."

"Suzuki?" Akari's brows furrowed. "He should be severely inj—" His words got stuck in his throat, voice trailing off when he pulled up Suzuki's feed."

James' eyes, meanwhile, widened, pure excitement and anticipation shining in their depths.

****

Unbeknownst to the scrutiny he received, Suzuki grunted as he sat up amid a pile of rubble. A few feet away, Natsu shook off dust and stone as she walked over. Crouching next to Suzuki, she gently poked his left shoulder.

"Ssss!" Suzuki suppressed his desire to shout and instead sucked a sharp intake of breath. He glared at Natsu, but her unfeeling helmet did not portray her thoughts.

"Yup. It's dislocated," Natsu murmured as she inspected the limp arm. "You're one crazy bastard. You still had the time to think about saving me in that situation?"

"Nothing like that," Suzuki grunted, biting back pain as he grabbed the limp shoulder. "I know you can handle yourself. I need your help to get to the drop point – can't make it by myself gearless."

Natsu nodded. "That sounds about right. Lie down. Let me help with that." Natsu's brow rose when Suzuki obediently laid down, allowing her to grab his arm. "You're not even going to ask if I know what I'm doing?"

Suzuki glanced at her. "Do I need to?"

"Smartass." Natsu snorted. She pulled his arm, gently rotating it as she raised it close to his head. With her careful help, Suzuki's shoulder popped back into place with a soft 'thunk.' She then picked up some loose wires and secured the arm to his sides in a makeshift sling. Satisfied with her work, Natsu looked at Suzuki, who had barely issued a whimper throughout. "Can you fight with one arm? Should we find somewhere for you to hide?"

"No need," rebutted Suzuki as he sat up. "Cassia's stronger than we thought. We'll need everyone to take him down." Brows furrowing, Suzuki clenched his left hand. "Thanks for the sling. Should tide me until the drop."

"No pro—" Natsu froze and jerked to the right. "We've got a problem. Some survivors are running towards our location. How do you want to play it?"

Suzuki looked around. The flood left debris from trees, buildings and stones scattered across the ground. There was a distinct lack of cover due to the absence of standing structures besides the orbital elevators. "I'm a sitting duck without a suit. Without cover, they can easily surround and overwhelm us with bullets. We should run to the drop point in an arc to buy time until it arrives."

"You're laser-focused on that drop. What's so important? Can it can change anything?"

Suzuki's eyes narrowed, his gaze carrying unflinching confidence. "Yes."

Natsu glared at Suzuki. The young man's unwavering confidence was contagious. Even she found herself wanting to gamble on him. "Fine. But we do it my way." Saying that she crouched with her back to Suzuki. "Get on. We'll be faster if I carry you."

"Alright." Without hesitation, Suzuki climbed onto her back, securing himself with an arm over her shoulder as she stood.

"You really don't have any shame, do you?"

"Shame is a luxury for the privileged. It's a luxury I cannot afford."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Natsu asked, "What anime did you steal that line from?"

"I did no—" BANG!

The waters in front of Natsu exploded, sending mist, debris and water splashing. Natsu quickly turned to the side, where a group of aliens trained their rifles towards them. Snorting, she adjusted Suzuki on her back. "Buckle up." With those words, she sped off, leaving dense steam in her wake.

The enraged aliens quickly gave chase, occasionally shooting in hopes of striking down the saboteurs. However, they failed to hit the duo due to Natsu's erratic movements and Suzuki deflecting the closer shots with his sword. Still, the aliens did not give up the chase, eager to strike them down once they tired.

****

Elsewhere Cassia's overwhelming strength began to take its toll on the trainees. With a calculated focus, his aura spread out, trapping the melee fighters. Before anyone could react, they buckled to their knees as a tremendous force pressed down upon them.

"Dammit! This fucker can manipulate gravity!" Takahiro cursed as he fired everything, hoping to save the trapped teammates. Faced with the incoming missiles, Cassia snorted but quickly retreated. Perhaps due to his retreat, the nearest trainees found they could move again, albeit sluggishly.

"Thanks, Takahiro." Ayumi's gaze narrowed. Recalling several battles she fought with and against Razznik, she coldly called, "Everyone, listen. Cassia's gravity manipulation also applies to himself. He must reduce the force to dodge ranged attacks. Melee, be careful. He will look to pin you in place to finish you off at once. Ranged, set a wider net and conserve your ammo. Fire when he pulls out the [Gravity Lock]." Finally, she sent a message to a team far away. "Jade... I need you to check something for me."

Following her order, the ranged Gladiators swiftly pulled back and surrounded Cassia from all directions. They then trained their rifles and weapons on the alien warrior but resisted the temptation to empty their magazines.

Emboldened by the clarification, the melee fighters, led by Kimuri, charged at Cassia through the debris-laden water-soaked complex. Each step they took through the ankle-deep water was met with resistance, their movements hampered by the added weight. The mini-sea sloshed as they ran, a constant reminder of the battlefield's treacherous terrain.

Cassia, however, remained an unstoppable force. The alien warrior anticipated Kimuri's blitz-like attack with preternatural instinct, evading his strikes effortlessly. The fox Gladiator desperately cut its twin heated kukris in zig-zag patterns, but Cassia moved with an agility that defied common sense.

Kimuri cursed as he once again barely missed the alien by a millimetre difference. The added gravity had rid him of his most potent weapon: speed! Much like his in-game persona, Kimuri's Gladiator was geared primarily toward extreme speed. As a result, it did not have the added load to compensate for the added weight.

Fortunately, Kimuri was not alone. The other trainees soon joined, but Cassia moved with a terrifying purpose, unleashing a torrent of brutal blows upon his adversaries. The impact of his mechanized fists against the trainees boomed across the horizons, tearing chunks of armour off in the process. The clattering sound of metal striking metal reverberated through the water-soaked compound, drowning the trainees' grunts of exertion.

Despite their best efforts, the trainees were overwhelmed by Cassia's prowess. The fluctuating gravity disoriented them, throwing off their balance and leaving them vulnerable to his devastating strikes. The weight of their Gladiators became a burden, their movements sluggish and uncoordinated.

One by one, the trainees began to fall under Cassia's relentless assault. His blows landed with precision, exploiting weaknesses in their defences. With each strike, their gladiators groaned in protest, their armour buckling under the immense force. Waters churned with the chaotic clash as bodies and debris were flung about in the maelstrom of battle.

***

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At the centre of several mainframes, Jade ignored the explosions and sounds of desperate gunshots coming from outside. The young hacker's mind was preoccupied with Ayumi's request. Several lines of code flashed across her eyes as she used the backdoor to upload the daemon to scour the space station's database.

She would have needed a few hours to find what she needed if she were alone. Fortunately, the hacking tool easily interpreted what she sought into the aliens' language and soon pulled up a few relevant files. It used a few extra seconds to convert the files to Japanese and display them.

"Fuck!" Jade's eyes narrowed as she read the contents. Without hesitating, she sent the entire file to Ayumi. Then, on second thought, she sent a copy to Suzuki. "What the fuck?" Suzuki's transfer did not go through, causing Jade's heart to leap to her throat. What happened? Did he die?

Jade was worried, but she clenched her fists to calm herself. No. Suzuki was not the type to die so quickly. Something might have happened. She just had to ensure she did her part and everything would be alright.

Bang!

The door suddenly smashed open, and an alien ran in, rifle raised. Without looking up, Jade raised her pistol and fired thrice. The first bullet shattered the alien's electro-field, the second smashed its helmet, and the final tore through its skull, boring a deep hole.

"Enough playing nice." Angered by Suzuki's uncertain status, Jade cracked her fingers as several holographic keyboards appeared. "Let's crush these idiots."

***

"Damn it! They're tightening the noose!" Natsu cursed as she ran around the compound. So far, she had managed to avoid the pursuing aliens, but just like the trainees against Cassia, the aliens had smartly adopted a net strategy in their pursuit. They spread out, covering all possible escape routes before slowly inching towards her position. This way, she could not lose them with clever movement.

Just then, she received a transmission. "Dropping Package at Point XX! Standby for delivery!"

Natsu looked up to see a black obelisk falling from the sky a few dozen meters away. With renewed vigour, she switched directions and made a sharp beeline for the drop point. "This better be worth it!"

On her back, Suzuki's eyes narrowed. "It is."

***

At Cassia's battle site, Ayumi frowned as she inspected the information Jade sent. She hesitated, knowing that the news could break the trainees' resolve. Years of training instilled by her father instructed her to withhold this information. A good general knew what to tell their troops to maintain morale.

However, was she a general?

Ayumi shook her head. Perhaps because she had mingled with the Maggots for too long, Ayumi no longer saw value in keeping herself distant from her subordinates. They were a team. She needed to believe that her team would stand firm, or else what were they even doing here?

Having strengthened her resolve, Ayumi opened a channel to all the fighters. "Everyone, I just received some intel from Jade. The alien, Cassia, is something called an Ace Pilot. It says Ace pilots are powerful combatants capable of converting their incredible wills into various phenomena. An Ace pilot's will can create a thick shield around them that can block or restrain most attacks. It is challenging to eliminate this passive shield as its difficult for conventional weaponry to exhaust the pilot's large willpower reserves. Using game terms, Cassia has an absurd amount of ki--enough to coat his entire body in a perpetual shield.

Furthermore, his specific skill is to convert that ki into gravity wells to restrain his opponents. We're lucky he's not in his mech because they can enhance his powers a hundred times. If we want to beat him, we only have two options: First, exhaust his willpower until he becomes vulnerable, or hit him with a single attack that overwhelms his defences."

Ayumi glanced at the orbital elevator in the distance. "Our final option is to lick our wounds and retreat. We'll be better equipped next time with the lessons we've learned. Whatever we choose, we must decide quickly. Reinforcements will soon arrive."

"Retreat?" Near Cassia, Kimuri snorted as he dodged a punch and jumped backwards. "If this bastard is as powerful as you say, he'll unleash hell on this world if we let him through. No." Kimuri softly growled as he sheathed his blades. He crouched low, almost in a runner's starting position and glared at Cassia.

"Shit. He's going for it!"

It wasn't clear who shouted, but before anyone could react, Kimuri's Gladiator pulsed with a dangerous blue light as several mini-rockets grew out of compartments all over his body.

"We do not retreat, nor do we surrender. Not when there's something to protect. That's what it means to be Nature's Vanguard!" BOOM!

A searing blue light bloomed like the explosion of a mini-sun. Within that blinding radiance, a thin blue line zipped through the water-clogged ground and crashed into a stunned Cassia! The blue blur briefly revealed itself as Kimuri before accelerating again, smashing his legs, blazing with concentrated energy against Cassia in a crazed but coordinated assault.

"What? I can move?"

Several trainees remarked in surprise as Cassia's gravity manipulation momentarily faltered under the relentless onslaught. The trainees seized the opportunity, unleashing torrents of firepower upon him. The resulting tremors splashed the waters around Cassia and Kimuri, casting a shimmering mist that danced in the air, illuminated by the flashes of energy.

Yet, even as the trainees poured everything into the assault, Cassia stood tall. His mechanical frame absorbed the brunt of Kimuri's blows, his forcefield shimmering with resilience. Slowly but surely, he regained control over the fluctuating gravity and began exerting more pressure against Kimuri's assault.

With a final, overwhelming surge of power, a terrible gravitational pull erupted from the enraged alien. So heavy was the force that it instantly grounded Kimuri, too great for even his thrusters to overcome. "DIE!" He unleashed a devastating punch with a loud roar, sending Kimuri crashing into the debris-laden ground. The crash sent water splashing up, mingling with the sparks and the trainees' cries of despair.

The remaining trainees were battered and disheartened as the dust settled and the waters stilled. Their Gladiators stood in tattered armour, their systems strained and flickering. Most of the melee Gladiators were out of commission. If not for Ayumi's timely interventions, they would have had casualties by now. The trainees knew their ranged mechs could not pressure Cassia's shields enough to exhaust him in their short timeframe. Resilience tested to the brink, the trainees exchanged worried glances.

Cassia's presence loomed large, his armour radiating with a sense of victory. He raised his feet with a cold, calculated gaze and stomped down at Kimuri!

"Stop!" Ayumi shot at the general, but her bullets struck the ground before they reached him due to the enhanced gravity. Recalibrating, Ayumi raised her rifle again, but it was too late by then!

BOOM!

"BOSS!"

A powerful shockwave sent the waters flying as metal struck metal in defiant force. A crouching terrible black frame reflected within the many droplets, its outstretched glaive suspending Cassia's foot inches above Kimuri's head.

The obsidian berserker frame raised its wolf-like head, with bloody-red eyes flashing as it glared at Cassia. "GET—" Several thrusters exploded behind the unknown frame, sending it upward alongside Cassia's foot. "—THE FUCK—" The newcomer roared as he spun in place and delivered a crunching kick against Cassia's chest.

The stunned alien caught off-balance, could do nothing as the blow sent him crashing into his destroyed mech's giant helmet.

"—Off. My. Planet." Surrounded by falling droplets, the Berserker's 7-foot rod captured the moon's light, reflecting the monster it had sworn to cut in twain!