The class was baffled and stared at each other in bewilderment. Chi? Chi was something out of old medical textbooks, an alternate approach that believed in lifeflow and spirit having an effect over the body's condition. Chi had nothing to do with stepping into a Goliath, with grabbing hold of the myriad electronic controls and mobilizing one of the deadliest war machines in the history of man. Perhaps it was a class in medical treatments in case of emergency?

"Who can tell me what Chi is?" Mr. Shotuku stared around the classroom with the intimidating temperament of a feudal lord, though projected from under his heavy eyelids. Nobody raised a hand in response, not even Nami. "Nothing? You are a disappointing class. You, on the floor. Wipe the blood off your face and come up here to fight me."

At the sound of hearing a challenge, Chase bounced up off the ground and bolted to the front. He struck a pose and a cheer went up from his supporters at the back. Mr. Shotuku held out a hand and placed his elbow on his desk, gesturing for Chase to grab hold.

"We will begin with a test of strength. An arm wrestle. I'm sure you are all aware that this young man is stronger than someone with a frail body like mine." In response, Chase won the arm wrestle almost instantly and the class exploded in excitement. "Good, then we will do this again. This time we will see a different approach." Chase, full of swagger and drunk on victory, grabbed hold of the elder teacher's hand once more. In a flash it was over. Chase's arm was lying on the table. The class was silent. Porter was laughing inside.

"H-how, what? What happened?" Porter dreamed for a camera to catch Chase's face in action as it stammered out that line.

"There is more than one way to win a fight. You should all know this from your lessons in other classes. It is our most clichéd teaching point and every general's favourite line. But I wish to exploit something different. I wish to bring forth the Chi, the life energy, the spirit, that each of you contains, so that you can harness it and, more importantly, so your Goliath can harness it. Chi is an integral part of the greatest pilots. It is part of the power that flows into a machine like a Goliath, and we have learned much from it."

Nami's hand crept up and was acknowledged by the teacher. "Is a Goliath not powered by its engine? Usually the standard SVX Twin Ignition Turbo, with Overdrive Option?"

"You're a smart girl, but at the same time not wise." Porter looked over to see Nami's face shatter in disbelief. Not wise? But she was always the smartest! Between her dumbfounded look and Chase's loss, Porter was having the best day ever. "Chi is all around us and within us. It is the strength of our spirit and person and since its scientific discovery, we have built Goliaths to harness this energy. All of you, upon stepping into the cockpit, will be giving up part of your spirituality and life to the machine and it in turn will respond to you. Almost all of you only have a strong enough level of Chi to power the Goliath to its basic capacities, and that is all that we ask of any soldier. Some of you, however, will have more than enough and will be able to use that as manifest energy for your machine. It is you who pushes the limit of the Goliath, you who paves a trail of destruction and blazes into heroism. The famous pilots you love drew strength from themselves and transmitted it to their machines. This is only a basic explanation but critical. In this class we will be working on the proponents of Chi and improving upon it so that each of us can try to draw out our own. Take one of these sheets and practice it for homework. Class dismissed."

Nobody moved. There was still an hour left before actual dismissal but nobody knew what to do. Chase was still stuck at the front of the class, pondering what had happened. Nami was still in a state of shock from being told she was not wise. It was Riya who quietly raised her hand, much to the surprise of the class for she so rarely spoke. Upon seeing her beautiful features the professor's face softened and he gave out a smile. "Sir, we don't have dismissal for another hour."

Mr. Shotuku straightened up and looked at the clock on the wall then checked through his papers for confirmation. "Yes, you're right, but I have nothing left to teach. The class ends or starts or extends not because of time but what I have to teach. You have yourself a lovely day young lady." He shot a scowl at the classroom. "The rest of you, get your paper and get out of here." The class shuffled up and scattered, their day finished early and so they were off to live out their social lives. Chase was literally carried out by his supporters and Porter was left wondering what to do with Nami, who had been struck with rigor mortis.

Indeed, he disliked her frequent stalker tendencies and her obsessive crush on him, but she was the closest thing he had to a friend at the academy. He went to tug her along but was stopped by Mr. Shotuku. "She will recover. It is better to let her do it on her own though. Those whose ego is built upon the existence of their reputation and knowledge must always learn through the breaking of that reputation. Do you know yours?"

"I have no reputation. I don't do anything here."

"So I see. You have no ego to clutter your mind. Your spirit flows freely because of it but it is weak. Perhaps there is something within you that we will bring out. One can only see what happens." Mr. Shotuku took the homework sheet from Porter and threw it away. "You do not need to do this for me tonight. You will do something else instead. Stay here with your friend. Practice great patience in watching her. Let the janitors clean around you if they must. Test yourself." The sensei scooped his slipper up off the floor and returned it to his foot. And with that he was out the door.

"But she isn't..." But the teacher was already gone. "...my friend. Ugh, what am I going to do with you Nami?" He took a seat next to her and rested his head in his hands and prepared to wait this one out.

Mr. Shotuku let the door close behind him and spent a moment absorbing the silence of the empty hallway. That boy doesn't know what he is doing, he thought. The levels of his potential Chi are immeasurable, but they are locked away deep inside. It is a waste to this army that he will never be useful.

* * * * *

General Ochenkov levelled his high-calibre rifle and sighted down the barrel from the cockpit of his Goliath. The gun had been specially grafted for his usage, gold leaf imprinted along its sides in decoration and in sacramental blessing; the gold was from the second holy Church of Enia. Many of the highest generals serving the Enian Federation had some sort of holy relic on their person or were using blessed weapons. The support from the church was necessary for the defeat of enemies, for only the strength of St. Ishiyama would be enough to lift them to victory.

Ochenkov was leading a strike force composed of three Goliaths, the two supporting him falling into the mundane soldier unit: Exo class units. Most mechanized battlesuits that took to the battlefield were Exo class units, relatively cheap to build and functional as armoured infantry. They too carried high-power rifles, though not of the same build as Ochenkov's and certainly not as deeply blessed.

Only Ochenkov's Goliath was unique, a Rhino-class monstrosity with bulky, thick plate armour that made the normally human-shaped battlesuit look like a ball of metal, but if one looked close enough you could still see where the arms sprouted out from the chest, where the neck-less head sat and where the legs split off. Mobility on this beast had been sacrificed for firepower and defensive capacity. Tucked within its shoulders, for example, were missile pods that could shock enemies and wipe out forward lines.

The defining feature of this Goliath lay in the metal horn that jutted out from its chest straight ahead, and the booster jets built along its back, allowing Ochenkov a sudden charge to smash through opposing metallic golems, much like the animal it was modelled after. To finish it off there was a shield strapped to the unit's right arm, nearly as wide as the whole machine and almost the same height, approaching fifty feet.

Ochenkov had been sent out to scout an enemy base, one belonging to the Artisan Confederate, their current enemy they had recently been forced into war with. Apparently the Confederate had been amassing forces along Enia's borders, building small encampments to store ammunition so that they could be ready to attack en masse and entrench themselves for the coming months.

It was this base that Ochenkov was looking at down his gun. There was a mild snowfall kicking up in this area, just at the bottom of a mountain. This was a northern limit of Enia's reach. Neither of the two countries had much reach into the northern parts of the world, mostly because of their uselessness for long-sustained living, though they did host quite a number of resources. They also provided an avenue for invasion because there were a lack defence systems set up along the way or observation posts, but you had to be willing to put up with the weather.

The one who watched over these parts was the "Siberian Rhino" Ochenkov, and he was the reason very little ever happened in the north; he eliminated it before it could do anything. He knew the mountains well, where they fell into valleys and where frozen rivers and lakes crossed paths and he was always weary of the potential vantage points and ambushes they created.

His Goliath was outfitted to see through some of the harshest blizzards and so he had no issue scanning the forward encampment and planning out a method of attack. There were two enemy battlesuits, one of which was empty and had its cockpit revealed, and the other which was helping move some crates around. Ochenkov signalled to the soldier to his side, Private Stoke. Stoke's rifle had a high-powered scope and he had a few explosive-tipped bullets to use for long range attacks. The purpose of the mission was to reduce the main firepower in the camps and to detonate the ammunition so as to deter attacks and thus Stoke was the long-range solution to this.

The two of them crept forward as best they could and pressed against the ridge of a low hanging rocky outcrop, looking down on the camp that was hundreds of meters away. The third Goliath, piloted by a Lance Corporal Mayes, was holding up a position behind them in case anything went wrong.

Stoke set up his rifle in proper position and steadied it, sighting through the scope and picking out targets. His virtual link with his two comrades allowed his targeting computer to select what he was looking at and upload it to each of their viewscreens as well. Ochenkov filtered through each one with his strategic eye of experience and chose.

"Shoot for open Goliath. Weak point in cockpit. Will explode. Save time."

Stoke was unaffected by the brusque manner in which Ochenkov spoke; his superior was a rough-and-tumble character of massive strength and little speech. He always stated orders or challenges, sometimes issuing contests of strength he loved to take part in. Stoke had taken offense at first, until Mayes had taught him you lived with it. This was just the way the general was, ever since he had joined the army.

The empty battlesuit detonated when hit by the bullet, plumes of fire streaking up through the air, the heat released melting the snow in the sky and causing an isolated rain around it. "Now we charge, Stoke."

The twin Goliaths removed themselves from the ledge and returned down the mountain pathway, winding around its edges and sliding down icy patches. Stoke leapt ahead in excitement. Mayes was like a big brother for him, and he always loved reporting the first kill to him. "Mayes we got one, in one sho-" There was a Goliath propped against the stone face of the mountain, only upright because of the angle it was leaning on. It had two massive slash marks across the chest, crossing for an "X" and gouging so deep as to almost cut completely through the machine. There were various fluids and oils dripping from the seams and sparks shooting out from chopped cables. Mayes' body, tiny by comparison, dangled out of the exposed cockpit and his blood mingled with his machine's.

Stoke was devastated. His adopted brother, his hero and idol, cut down. Stoke’s Goliath fell to its knees in front of Mayes in response to Stoke's piloting and Ochenkov heard Stoke weep over the communication network. Ochenkov was focused though, his military experience teaching him to never stop in the face of loss. "But where is killer?" He saw a brown flash higher in the mountain and leapt back. "Move Stoke!"

But Stoke couldn't. As Ochenkov jumped back, his hydraulic legs pushing him up to a bird's eye view, another Goliath landed in his place, a brown cloak swirling around it like a cape. Under the material Ochenkov could see snow white armour and the crest of the Artisan Confederate. This machine wielded a massive silver lance in one hand and a round shield in its left. Stoke's weeping was cut out as the lance plunged through the back of his Goliath and burst out the front side, spewing more liquids to mix with Mayes'.

Holy bullets were launched from Ochenkov's rifle but the Artisan Goliath bolted and disappeared around a bend in a flash. As the Siberian Rhino landed he was beset on both sides by two more Goliaths, these two the most basic unit in the Artisan army, and each one sporting a brown cloak. The general held up his shield on one side to deflect the incoming fire while retaliating towards his opposite side, riddling one of the battlesuits with bullets until it fell to the ground in a heap.

From there he drove his shield forward and ignited the boosters along his back, charging through snow towards his remaining foe. It was quicker than its fallen comrade and rolled to the side to avoid the hit and was able to fire a few shots into Ochenkov's flank before the shield moved into place again. The Rhino class machine was only just scratched by the shots, its thick armour keeping it safe, but it would need to end this quickly before the smaller enemy's mobility could be utilized too much.

Ochenkov threw his shield and it thudded into the target, knocking it to the ground under the immense bulk of the heavy plated metal. He reached down and wrapped the metallic fingers of his warmachine around the arm of his opponent, hoisting it into the air in front of him. He then brought it in close for a bear hug, his horn driving through the cockpit of his foe and ending the fight.

A bear of a man himself, Ochenkov gave out a great sigh to be done with the combat, if only for a moment, and moved to retrieve his shield. His arm fell short though, its mobility cut when a lance drove through his shoulder. His true enemy had returned. It was the Silver Hawk general of the Artisan Confederate, Sigmeund.

Ochenkov dropped his rifle to free up his right hand, using it to grab the end of the lance and hold it in place while he flipped the smaller Goliath over his body and tossed it onto the ground in front. Sigmeund and the Hawk bounced up immediately, his Mongoose class fighter formed of a lightweight alloy that gave it greater speed and reflexes but it required much experience and technique to manoeuvre it and avoid being crushed by opposing Goliaths. But Mongoose classes also had a surprising amount of strength for their size and this Ochenkov knew. There had been a brief time when Enia had allied with Artisan and he had fought in battle alongside the Silver Hawk general, witnessing his deadly efficiency up close.

"If you would be so kind as to return my lance to me Ochenkov." Sigmeund gestured toward the weapon protruding from Ochenkov's back.

"Don't need. Fight like men, like wild animals. Fight with strength and pride." Ochenkov kicked his rifle aside in a gesture of sportsmanship and raised his arms to a fighting stance, his left one grinding upwards but still moving, as though driven on by Ochenkov's willpower alone.

"You don't give much choice you brute. I'll just have to drag it out of you then." Sigmeund took up a similar stance, though with a shield in hand.

"Over dead body."

"Good then we're on the same page."

A/N: A deadly showdown in the snow. A mysterious power source. A boy stuck waiting in school. Can't wait until the next chapter? Neither can I!

Hope you enjoy, tell me what you think.