"What the heck do you mean ExoFront is attacking? It's been only a week!"

Commander Elena Torres rushed over to the communications room, directly contacting Captain Edmund, who was patrolling Fort Solstice, New Horizon's primary base of operations. Sweat was dripping down her face as she frantically searches for the power outlet. Her handheld radio was running out of power.

"Here it is. Edmund, can you hear me well now?"

"Clearly, commander."

"I need updates on the situation at Fort Solstice. What do you mean ExoFront is attacking us again?"

"That seems to be the case over here. About 20 armored vehicles are heading right towards us. I don't think the defensive turrets are able to hold on much longer."

Outside of the fort, New Horizon soldiers are falling one by one to the endless bullet storm weaved by ExoFront's newest weapon, the Auto-Aiming Fully Automatic (AAFA) Machine Gun, mounted on each of their armored vehicles. The attack is part of a campaign to wipe out New Horizon resistance and seize the Praetomium depository within Fort Solstice.

"Soldiers! Switch to explosive rounds! We must not let the enemy reach the depository!"

Captain Edmund, having ordered his soldiers, hung up on Elena, and put on his battle-ready gear and headed into battle. His gear consisted of a bulletproof vest, an assault rifle and a pair of binoculars, the same gear as every other New Horizon soldiers.

"I will hold them back. Commander, I need you to check on the status of the three PAUs. They are our last hope."

"Roger that."

Edmund then charged head-on into battle, jumping over an armored vehicle and takes down the gunner controlling the machine gun mounted on the roof of the car. The gunner fell head-first onto the ground while the car was moving at high speeds, and was knocked unconscious. The captain, now bleeding uncontrollably, with blood on his dirty blonde hair, aimed his rifle at the hatch that opens up into the interior of the vehicle.

"This shall be your end."

The crew of the car let out a shrieking scream as a barrage of bullets passed through the hatch into the vehicles, hitting the fuel supply and killing the driver, having been shot in the head. The remaining crew was quickly knocked out by the lack of oxygen building up in the car, and the vehicle started turning round and round as the body of the driver fell onto the steering wheel and locking it in a turning position.

Back at Fort Solstice, the explosive turrets held on long enough for Elena to rush back down to the underground hangar, where engineers and technicians were working on a machine.

"Commander Torres, what seems to be the problem?" - an engineer asked worriedly, seeing Elena's panic-stricken face.

"Are the PAUs able to operate yet?" - Elena asked.

"Not yet, Commander. Their weapon systems are not complete. Paramount Industries threw this prototype away, and we are just beginning to patch it up."

"Are the basic functions available?"

"They are, but at this rate, piloting one is useless."

"I still need to try. Step aside."

Elena notified two elite New Horizon soldiers to come down to the hangar with her, and ordered the scientists to stop work on the three PAUs. The cockpit door of the machines opened, and its eyes glowed brightly.

"The Power Armor Unit. Our final weapon against ExoFront."

The machines stood itself up, revealing its true size: three 20-meter-tall humanoid mechas. One is painted silver gray, with the numbers 274 written on its shoulder armor. Another is painted white, with 275 written on its armor, and one is painted light gray, with 276 written on its armor.

"Soldiers. Pilot the three mechas. We need to stop ExoFront."

The two soldiers nodded their heads and jumped on board the PAU-274 and PAU-275. Elena herself piloted the PAU-276, and the three of them charged into battle.

History was about to be rewritten.

As the three PAUs left the hangar, the valley right beneath the gates of Fort Solstice had become a fierce battlefield. New Horizon forces were employing use of repurposed sidecars, each with an anti-tank cannon mounted on its passenger seat, while ExoFront were shooting frantically from the AAFA guns mounted on the roofs of their cars. New Horizon forces were having an advantage, as their cannon-mounted sidecars were blowing up armored cars faster than the AAFA's tracking system. However, something was coming to change the tides of battle entirely to New Horizon's favor.

"WHAT THE F*** IS THAT THING?"

"THERE ARE THREE OF THEM!"

The screams of ExoFront soldiers echoed across the valley as they saw three armored giants descend from the mountainside, each wielding a weapon of mass destruction. The PAU-274, a gigantic assault rifle that shoots .60mm bullets, capable of tearing even the strongest of tanks into shreds. The PAU-275, a .50kg bomb launcher. And the PAU-276, armed to the teeth with a barrage of small homing missiles as well as two arm-mounted cannons.

"Destroy them, soldiers. Leave nothing behind."

The three mechas let out a howling metallic scream, before a barrage of bullets and explosions were set off. Countless New Horizon soldiers were killed during the crossfire, but the attack rendered 90% of ExoFront's forces unable to operate. Victory was in sight.

After ash and dust have settled, the true harrowing scene of the battlefield was revealed. Burning vehicles, molten flesh and bones, and the smell of burnt corpse was aplenty. The three instruments of war stood tall amidst the gory scene, each pilot contemplating their own actions.

"We killed them, right? They're not coming back, right?"

"Is this the right thing to do? No, it is the right thing. For the future of New Horizon."

Just as the pilots were about to leave, something in the distance caught their eyes.

"New Horizon! It seems you have already acquired PAUs of your own!"

The three pilots looked in horror as a much bigger PAU appeared over the horizon.

"Behold! PAU-320! The true Power Armor Unit! Yours are only a mere prototype! A failure!"

"Vaunham, the Mad Cow of ExoFront." - Elena gasped in shock.

And in the blink of an eye, the three New Horizon PAUs were brutally ripped open. One had its head torn off, its sensors crushed and its cockpit turned into a pile of scrap metal. The other had its cockpit ripped out and its pilot crushed to death. Elena's PAU was the most fortunate, only having its weapon system snapped and thrown away.

"Retreat! We lost!" - Elena screamed as she ejected herself from the cockpit. The defeated commander ran from the PAU-320's relentless pursuit.

"We haven't lost." - a voice echoed from the battlefield. Elena looked back to see her PAU-276 standing tall, with sharp claws made from metal shrapnel of its old weapon system protruding from its arms.

"Let's get going, 276. We have to let him taste the flavor of scrap metal!"

The battle-damaged PAU slowly approached the PAU-320, then suddenly leapt forward with its claws stretched out. It grabbed the PAU-320 and tore off parts of its armor.

"Oh, who is this wannabe hero trying to pilot a PAU?" - Vaunham asked.

"I'm Nielson Hart. I'm just scavenging food for the colony when I saw you hitting my friends."

"So you are a New Horizon settler. Then you will fall."

"We shall see."

The PAU-276 seemingly sprang back to life with Nielson piloting it, performing jumps, rolls and dashes at breakneck speed. With each hit evaded, the primitively equipped machine claws into the PAU-320, breaking off chunks of its armor. The bigger PAU did not hold back as well, unleashing a range of cuts and slashes with its gigantic cleaver. The PAU-276 suffered heavy damage from the bashing, however, in a split second where the 320 was winding up its next attack, Nielson grabbed it by the neck, ripping its head off and smashing it into the cockpit. The PAU-320 was decommissioned by a much smaller and more incomplete unit just like that. Nielson tore through the cockpit, grabbing Vaunham out. The bald man is now covered in bloodstains and started coughing up blood, when 276 grabbed him by the waist, and snapped him in half. Blood and bones of the deceased man dropped down to the floor alongside remnants of what was once his internal organs, which are then promptly crushed by the PAU-276. The Mad Cow of ExoFront was no more.

Nielson piloted the PAU-276 back to base for repairs, now being the only person capable of piloting a PAU, he was chosen by Elena Torres to become the sole member of New Horizon's Power Armor squadron.

"Why did you pick the PAU-276? We could've ordered a better Power Armor for you." - Elena asked.

"The machine is great. It's agile and precise. Other models lack this particular edge in battle. If I keep the pressure on enough, I can tear through them. The only thing I require is for it to have a pair of claws."

And thus, the PAU-276 "Clawbeaver" was assigned to Nielson. The Devil of New Horizon was born on that day, a gloomy Thursday evening of 2076.

____________________________________________________________________

NOTE: The reason why both groups have advanced technology is because of Paramount Industries, a company that specializes in weapons that has branches around the galaxy.