11.34 Hours, June 10th, 2187
Grid location: Proxima System, Planet Tethlis, Super Earth Space.
The dust hadn't yet settled on the battlefield where Captain Elena Torres stood, surveying the ruins of what had been a rebel stronghold. Her eyes, steely and resolute, missed nothing—the charred vehicles, the scattered weaponry, the still bodies that marked the rebels' last stand. The air was thick with the metallic scent of ionized charges and burnt flesh.
"Looks like the end of the line for this faction," muttered Sergeant Davies, stepping up beside her with a scanner in hand. The device beeped intermittently as it picked up residual energy signatures.
Elena didn't turn to acknowledge him. "End of the line for them, maybe. We need to stay sharp. This was too easy."
Davies raised an eyebrow. "Easy, ma'am? We lost good soldiers today."
Her gaze finally met his, fierce and unyielding. "Exactly my point. It was a set trap, not a victory. The rebels knew they couldn't win. Why stand and fight?"
Before Davies could reply, a low rumble shook the ground beneath their feet, subtle but distinct. Elena's head snapped towards the horizon, her eyes narrowing. In the distance, beyond the jagged line of war-torn ruins, the sky had begun to darken unnaturally. Clouds, black and roiling, gathered with unnatural speed.
"Storm's coming in fast," Davies observed, but Elena shook her head.
"That's no storm. Prepare the troops. Something else is heading our way."
As the soldiers rallied, the ominous clouds shifted, morphing into the silhouettes of ships—sleek, deadly, and all too familiar. The Terminids, long thought to be merely scavenging the outskirts of human territories, were advancing in formation.
"Comms," Elena snapped, her voice cutting through the rising wind. "Get me High Command. This isn't a counter-rebellion sweep anymore. We're looking at an invasion."
Subtle vibrations began to emanate from the ground, felt rather than heard, as if the very planet were responding to the threat descending from the skies. In the chaos, a private named Harris stumbled forward, clutching a tattered piece of technology scavenged from the rebel base.
"Ma'am, you need to see this," he gasped, out of breath. "It's... it was theirs, but it's not rebel tech. I think it's—"
Elena snatched the device, her eyes scanning the foreign symbols flashing across its screen. "Terminid," she concluded, her voice a whisper of dread. "They were communicating—collaborating. The rebels were just a distraction."
Davies clenched his fists. "So what's our play?"
Elena's response was curt, her resolve as hard as the armor she wore. "We hold the line. Then we push them back to whatever hell they came from. Ready the men, Davies. It's going to be a long night."
Above them, the first of the Terminid ships broke through the clouds, its arrival heralding a new chapter in a war that humanity had thought was nearing its end.