"The Shades? How did they know we're here?" said Merveille.

"We have to fight! Lady Opera, please allow us to go out of the ship in our robots!" said one of the Kurvaz soldiers to Opera.

"We can't do that," said Beluga.

"What are you saying? Why not?" the soldier asked Beluga.

"All of our mechs save the Tiamat and Salamander are not capable of flight. If we just send the two of them out, it's suicide," Beluga replied.

"Hey, we have the Golden Roar's weaponry to back us up, you know!" said another Kurvaz soldier.

"That is true. But, we are clearly being overwhelmed here. Even if Lady Opera and Beluga were to fight while being assisted by this ship, the chances of chasing the enemy away are slim," stated Gren.

"But, we can't just stand here and do nothing, right?" exclaimed a Kurvaz soldier. He then asked Opera and Merveille, "Isn't that right, Lady Opera, Miss Merveille?"

"I am afraid we do not have a choice," said Merveille. She began giving instructions to members of the Golden Roar's crew to tackle the current situation.

"Send out a distress signal right away! Defend the ship with all the weapons we have!"

(scene change)

It was a fine day at the Tesla Leicht Institute. The institute's staff was carrying out their everyday work of maintaining the standards of Personal Troopers and researching them. In the building's main office was Jonathan Kazahara who was accompanied by Filio Presty and Jonathan's son, Irmgard Kazahara or Irm for short. The three of them were sitting at a glass table which was meant for guests, chatting with each other.

"Man, it sure is boring without any more action these days," said Jonathan.

"I guess so. With no unknown life forms to fight with, all I can do is hang out with women," said Irm.

"Now, now, Irm, are women the only thing you can think of?" asked Filio.

"Well, of course not. I think of saving them whenever they're in trouble," replied Irm.

"You're still thinking of women then," Filio said. "You could take your Grungust for a ride instead,"

"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea! I think I'll take some women for a ride on it!" exclaimed Irm.

"You're not serious about that, are you, son?" Jonathan asked while chuckling.

"Well, why shouldn't I try that? I got nothing better to do these days," said Irm.

"I don't think it's a good idea…" Filio remarked while pushing his spectacles up with his index finger.

Just then, the door to the main office was opened by a young woman. The woman was Tsugumi Takakura, Filio's fiancé. "Chief Kazahara! We're receiving a distress signal from an unknown ship not far from here!" she said to Jonathan.

"A distress signal?" asked Jonathan. "Is there a war going on here?"

"Well, looks like I've got something better to do now!" Irm said as he got out of his seat.

"At any rate, please come with me to the control room!" Tsugumi said to Jonathan, Irm and Filio.

Jonathan, Irm and Filio were led by Tsugumi to the control room. As they reached there, the four met their friends there. Their friends were the ATX team, the crew of the Hiryuu Kai, Major Kai Kitamura, Gilliam Yeager, Arado Balanga, Seolla Schweitzer, Lamia Loveless, Zengar Zonbolt, Elzam v. Branstein, Rishu Togo, Ibis Douglas, Masaki Andou, his familiars, Kuro and Shiro, Yuuki Jegunan and Ricarla Borgnine or Carla for short.

"What's the situation right now?" Jonathan asked one of the control room's staff who was at the radar.

"We have an unknown ship that is coming straight towards us. It is being surrounded by unknown beings and is currently fighting with them," replied the staff member.

"Does the ship belong to any faction?" asked Filio.

"I'm afraid I don't know, sir. The ship's information is not in our records," said the staff member.

"That's odd," commented Kai. "If that ship does not belong to the Earth Federation or the DC, could it be from another world?"

"Are you implying that the ship is from the other side, Major?" Lamia asked Kai.

"Regardless of it's whereabouts, we still have to save that ship," Kyosuke Nanbu, captain of the ATX team, stated.

"Kyosuke is correct. We should act now," said Elzam.

"Yes, but, it's best not to send all of us out there in case those beings approach this base and attack us. We should have some of the pilots guard this institute while the rest of them go and defend the ship,"

"I agree with Jonathan," said Captain Lefina, the Hiryuu Kai's commander. "In that case, let's have my crew along with the ATX team go and save the ship. The remaining pilots stay here in the control room,"

"Agreed," said Jonathan. "Alright, I'll contact the ship. While I'm at it, Captain Lefina, you better leave now along with your crew and the ATX team,"

(scene change)

Back at the Golden Roar's side, the ship was receiving damage continuously from the Shades. Things did not appear to be good for the crew of the Golden Roar. "Dude, this is totally freaky! Are we gonna survive this?" said Calua.

"We're doomed! We're all going to die!" said a Kurvaz soldier in panic.

"Calm down!" Gren said. "We cannot give up yet!"

"Gren is correct! We have to move onward until help arrives!" exclaimed Merveille.

"Miss Merveille, we're approaching something that is just ahead of us!" said the crew member at the radar. "It appears to be a group of premises!"

The crew member's words were right as everyone in the control room could see a large number of buildings ahead of them. Seeing them, Gren said, "This is not good! If we approach those buildings we could be endangering them right now!"

""You are correct. We will have to steer away from them," said Merveille.

"Miss Merveille, someone has received our distress signal! On top of that, I am identifying a large battleship heading our way from the premises in front of us!"

"Is it another enemy?" asked one of the Kurvaz soldiers.

The battleship which was mentioned by the Golden Roar's crew member was approaching the ship itself. The battleship was none other than the Hiryuu Kai. Out of the Hiryuu Kai came the ATX team, Katina Tarask, Tasuku Shinguji, Leona Garstein and Russel Bagman in their respective robots. Captain Lefina and her assistants, Sean Webley and Eun Hyojin, began contacting the Golden Roar.

"This is Captain Lefina of the Hiryuu Kai. We're currently providing assistance to defend your ship from the aliens surrounding it," Captain Lefina stated. "While we do that, could you please state your name, rank and which faction you belong to?"

Merveille, who heard the message, replied, "My name is Merveille Million. I am a researcher of the Kurvaz Hunter's Guild and do not belong to any faction,"

"You don't belong to any faction? Not even the Earth Federation and Divine Crusaders? And what is the Kurvaz Hunter's Guild?" asked Lefina.

"I know nothing of those factions. And about the Kurvaz, it's complicated. I will explain everything after we have resolved this battle," said Merveille.

"Alright, if you say so," said Lefina.

"This is quite odd. Are the people we're saving actually from another world?" stated Sean.

"Let's not make assumptions right now. We must focus on the battle," Saying this, Lefina began instructing the Hiryuu Kai's PT pilots to fight the Shades.

"Hiryuu Kai to Octo squad and ATX team. Eliminate all of the black beings you see while protecting the ship. Do not let the beings deal further damage onto the ship,"

"Roger!" the pilots replied.

Katina charged towards a bunch of Shades in her Gespenst, followed by the ATX team, Russel, Tasuku and Leona. "Let's heat things up, everyone!" exclaimed Katina to her squad. Saying this, Katina started to pound through a number of Shades with a single Jet Magnum attack. Russel and Leona fired their PTs' rail guns toward the Shades while Tasuku hammered the Shades with the Giganscudo Duro's fists. Kyosuke and Excellen fired the Alt Eisen's Claymores and Weisritter's Oxtongue Rifle respectively. Bullet and Kusuha attacked the Shades with the Grungust Type-3's Boost Knuckles.

The crew of the Golden Roar witnessed the PTs battling the Shades. They were amazed at how well they fought. "This is amazing! We'll be able to get out of this mess in no time!" said one of the Kurvaz soldiers.

"I hope that will be the case," Gren said smiling.

"Dude, those robots are totally cool!" said an excited Calua.

"And flashy too!" Opera stated in a flirty tone.

"I must admit they are impressive," Merveille said with a smile. She then added with a normal look on her face, "Aside from that though, we should focus on the current battle,"

"Merveille's right. Hopefully, we'll be able to get out of this situation alive," stated Beluga.

The battle continued with increasing intensity. It appeared that there was no end to the Shades. No matter how many of them the Golden Roar and the Hiryuu Kai's crew destroyed, more of them appeared out of nowhere and attacked relentlessly.

"D***, there's too many of them!" Tasuku said while slowly feeling annoyed by the overwhelming number of Shades.

"Just where the h*** are these things coming from?" exclaimed Katina.

"The source of these beings must be here somewhere," Kyosuke stated.

"But, where exactly is the source?" asked Kusuha.

"Wherever it is, we can't give up now! If we do, not only will we fail to save that golden ship, the institute will be attacked!"

"Institute?" Merveille asked via the communication system after hearing Bullet's words.

"The Tesla Leicht Institute," Captain Lefina said. "It's the group of buildings in front of your ship, Miss Merveille,"

"I see. I suppose they are research facilities?" said Merveille.

"You are correct, Miss Merveille. This may not be the right time to talk about them but..."

"Captain Lefina!" Russel's voice interrupted Lefina. "A large group of the black beings are headed towards the institute!"

"What?" Sean exclaimed in surprise. "They're going to attack the institute?"

"They're moving real fast! We'll never be able to reach those beings in time to stop them!" shouted Katina.

All who heard Katina's words over the communication system were shocked. "Captain Lefina, we must do something!" Sean said.

"It's too late! They're near the institute already!" Eun exclaimed.

"This is really bad!" said Excellen.

Everyone saw the Shades who were about to attack the institute. Just as they were about to do so, they were obliterated by what appeared to be a large laser beam. The crew of the Golden Roar and Hiryuu Kai were surprised upon seeing what happened. Soon, they saw who fired the beam. It was the Hagane accompanied by the SRX team in their PTs and the Asmodeus.

"The Hagane!" Eun said with a smile on her face. "The institute has been saved!"

The Golden Roar's crew were happy to see the Asmodeus. "Dude, it's the Asmodeus!" said Calua cheerfully.

"Wonderful! It's so good to see our dear Red, Chocolat and Elh again!" Opera said happily.

"It's also good to see another battleship assist us," Merveille said smiling. "It must be allied with the Hiryuu Kai,"

"Indeed it is good," Beluga said with a smile.

Captain Tetsuya began contacting the Hiryuu Kai's crew. Red, Chocolat and Elh made contact with the Golden Roar. "Greetings, Captain Lefina. I'm glad my crew managed to reach here in time,"

"Captain Tetsuya! It's good to see you!" Sean said.

"It's good to see you too. Jonathan told me everything that happened at your side. Regarding the golden ship you're defending, it's allied with the orange ship accompanying us,"

"You mean that ship with the propellers at it's front next to the Hagane?" Captain Lefina asked.

"Yes, we'll explain how we came across it later. Right now, we should fight," After Tetsuya spoke, he then said to the SRX team, "SRX team, engage all of the Shades you see! Don't let any of them attack the golden ship and the Tesla Leicht Institute!"

"Roger!" the SRX team replied. The team began to attack the Shades. As the battle continued, Red, Chocolat and Elh talked with the Golden Roar's crew.

"Good to regroup with you right now, Merveille!" Red said.

"Yes, you just came at the right time," replied Merveille.

"What happened?" asked Elh.

"We were travelling in this desert like area when the Shades attacked us. Those monsters bombarded us from all directions. But, thankfully, we had some flashy PTs come to our aid!"

Opera spoke in a flirty tone as she mentioned the PTs. "We were like going through a war zone, dude! If it weren't for those PTs we wouldn't have survived," said Calua.

"Glad to hear that," said Red. "Well, for the time being, let's leave the Shades to the PTs. We'll just have to stay in our own ships until we're needed,"

"That's correct. At the same time, we have to find the source of all the Shades that are present right now," said Merveille.

Just then, an explosion occurred at one part of the Tesla Leicht Institute much to everyone's shock. "What now?" Katina said.

"The institute's under attack?" Bullet asked.

At that moment, a message was transmitted to the Hagane and Hiryuu Kai. Everyone was able to hear the message as the communication system was not set to private transmission. It was a message from Jonathan.

"Captain Tetsuya, Captain Lefina! The institute's in trouble! It's under attack and we can't find whatever's attacking the institute!"