The Ardent hovered just outside the broken world's atmosphere, its engines on standby. Below them, the surface of the planet was a graveyard of ancient cities and crumbling towers, bathed in the eerie glow of the Shard.
Nam, Lan, and the strike team assembled in the hangar bay. Each member wore reinforced armor, their faces grim but determined. The air crackled with tension.
Lan pulled up the mission display. "We'll drop here," she said, pointing to a ruined sector close to the Shard. "From there, it's a straight push through enemy lines."
Nam nodded. "Quick and lethal. We don't give them time to regroup."
The hangar doors opened with a deep hiss, revealing the battlefield below. Shuttles and drop pods launched in tight formation, streaking through the turbulent skies.
As Nam's pod plunged downward, he felt his heart pound against his ribs. This wasn't just another mission. It was everything.
The survival of countless worlds depended on them.
They hit the ground hard. Immediately, fire and chaos erupted around them. Black-armored soldiers surged from the ruins, their weapons spewing crimson bolts of energy.
"Contact front!" someone shouted over comms.
Nam and Lan moved instinctively, covering each other's advance. Energy rounds slammed into the rubble around them. Lan dropped two enemies with precise shots, while Nam led a hard push through the broken streets.
"Flank left!" Lan barked.
Squad Alpha split, circling around a collapsed building. Explosions shook the ground as mortars rained from unseen positions.
Above, drones buzzed like angry hornets. Nam lifted his rifle and took out a cluster of them in a burst of gunfire.
They reached the edge of a massive plaza where the Shard floated high above, crackling with raw power. Beneath it, the enemy was setting up a containment field—an enormous machine pulsing with unnatural energy.
Lan's eyes widened. "If they activate that, they'll tear open a permanent Rift."
Nam cursed under his breath. "Not happening."
He keyed into the comms. "All units—priority target is the containment field. We disable it first, or it's game over!"
The team surged forward.
Gunfire lit up the ruins. Nam fought like a man possessed, weaving through debris, cutting down enemies with brutal efficiency. He felt every second slipping away—the containment device was already humming louder, almost ready.
"Cover me!" Lan shouted.
Without hesitation, Nam and the others laid down suppressing fire as Lan sprinted toward the device, a satchel of charges in her hands.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed overhead.
Nam looked up just in time to see a towering figure land between them—an enemy commander in heavy black armor, nearly twice his size. Its helmeted gaze locked onto Lan, and it raised a massive energy blade.
"No you don't!" Nam roared.
He tackled the giant, the impact rattling his bones. They crashed into the rubble, trading savage blows. Every strike from the enemy sent shockwaves through the ground. Nam ducked under a lethal swing and fired point-blank into the enemy's armor. Sparks flew, but the giant barely staggered.
Lan reached the containment field and slammed the charges into place.
"Ten seconds!" she yelled.
Nam gritted his teeth, dodging another blow. He drew his sidearm and fired into the exposed joints of the armor, finally bringing the behemoth to one knee. With a final shout, Nam drove his blade into the enemy's core, short-circuiting it.
"Get clear!" Lan screamed.
Nam sprinted, diving behind cover just as the charges detonated.
The containment device exploded in a burst of blue-white light, throwing enemy forces into disarray. The Shard above flickered, its glow momentarily dimming.
"Now!" Nam shouted.
Squad Alpha charged forward. They cut down the last defenders, securing the plaza. Lan activated the retrieval beacon, and a transport beam began locking onto the Shard.
But just as the beam stabilized, a low rumble shook the ground.
Out of the swirling clouds above, a massive, twisted ship descended—black as night, its hull covered in shifting runes.
Nam's blood ran cold.
"That's not theirs…" Lan whispered.
A voice, ancient and hungry, echoed inside their minds:
"You have touched what was never yours to claim."
From the ship's open bays, new enemies poured out—beings not of flesh and blood, but of darkness and hate, carrying the chill of the void itself.
The real war had just begun.
Nam tightened his grip on his weapon, forcing down the fear.
He turned to Lan. "We hold the line."
Lan nodded, her expression fierce. "Until the end."
Above them, the Shard pulsed once more—brighter, sharper, as if aware of what was coming.
And deep within it, something stirred.