Colossal trees flashed on their night visions in green. Droplets of water from the hundred-foot canopy damped the thick pile of leaves and twigs. Though the smallest of the man-made forest on the moon, the forty-acre facility seemed too big for them. It has been two hours since they started the search but they were yet to locate their elusive target.

"Any visual?" Axle asked.

Two voices from his teammates a few feet behind him replied "Negative".

Down to the last thirty minutes, they approached a group of Asana trees. At Axle's signal, his comrades stopped. In the middle of the grove is a tree with a peculiar hollow at its base. The thirty-foot hole gaped above the aerial root of the wide trunk. Marks around its bark suggested that there is a creature inhabiting it.

"Could that be its shell?" Sam asked.

"Let's find out," Axle said.

Air hissed within his helmet as he breathed out his mouth. Light beams zapped both sides of the trunk, avoiding the hole. The tree rustled as it brushed off the others before a thud echoed within the forest.

Having destroyed its home, an aggressive being was what they expected to jump right back at them. With hearts that seemed to pound out their chest, they pointed their lasers at the smoking stump. But a few minutes passed, nothing appeared. Not a hint of their target.

"It's empty!" Axle sighed.

"It would be easier if they let us use the new suit. It comes with drones, you know?" Sam said.

"It would be much easier if you would stop complaining!" Isis's high pitched voice rebuked him.

While the two were arguing, he felt as if his body moved on its own. Having noticed a boulder approaching them, Axle fired above. The huge rock hurled at them blasted to small fragments - small enough to cause any damage.

Two more boulders followed but they have scrambled out. Along the trunk, they ran up and hid amongst the branches. Though safe for the moment, the enemy's sneak attack had them separated from each other.

"A samanea-type nim," Isis relayed. Crouched above a branch, she trailed at their target - a tree monster. With a height of fifty-five feet, it has a body like a middle-aged man clad in an old-world armor. Two malevolent eyes glared from its face. Ridges ran from its mouth down its chin and neck. On both sides of its head is a hollow stump which should be its ears. It is a nim - one of the tree humanoids that colonized the earth.

"Mind sharing your view?" Sam asked.

Their target's image appeared at the bottom right corner of Sam's and Axle's screen. With its distinct built, there was no doubt that it was of the samanea species.

"Why did they send this kind?" Axle mumbled.

"Does its type bother you, Axe? It doesn't matter, you know?" Sam asked as he moved towards Isis.

"Samaneas are of the apex of the nim's species. Not to mention that their king, Nimrod, is a samanea himself. And we are a bunch of neophytes so why would the proctors of this drill send this kind to us? That's what you are thinking, right?" Isis said.

"Exactly,"

"But, I do agree with Sam. If we are to reclaim Earth, we don't have the luxury of choosing which nim to fight."

"Oh! I thought you programmed your mind to oppose me all the time."

"Can we stop the chit-chats and hurry? We don't have much time left!"

Down to a few minutes, the two hurried to leap from branch to branch until they had a direct view.

The sudden movements of the leaves beneath the nim's feet caught Axle's attention. On a closer look, roots sprouted from its feet and plunged through the ground. With eyes closed, it stretched its arms - a boulder gripped on both its hands.

"Get out there Sam!" Axle warned in panic.

Before Sam could ask, a boulder hit the branch where he was. The impact knocked the branch off along with Sam. Having fallen on a nearby tree, he shook his head as he got up. To his surprise, a large wooden hand approached to grab him. Jumping back, he was able to escape in time but the nim chased him

"H-Hey guys, care for some help?! We're a team, are we?" Sam said.

Popped out from the cartridge on his left thigh, Axle slipped a prism in the slot on his chest. Wood grew from the prism and covered his suit. With each step, his strides widened and the wooden body around him grew to a massive extent.

With a wooden armor the size and built of a nim, he leaped at their target and grabbed it by its arm. Caught in surprise, Axle threw the bigger samanea to the ground.