System alert:"Warning! Unknown spacecraft entering Earth's atmosphere!"
Red lights strobed through the control center. Consoles flickered. Officers shouted across the noise as panic rippled through the room.
Overseer: "Contact the President—now! Inform all ranks. We may be facing an incursion!"
Soldier: "Yes, sir!" He slammed commands into the terminal, broadcasting the distress signal across all military channels.
The overseer grabbed the microphone from its rack. His voice echoed through every base intercom.Overseer: "Code Red! Code Red! Unknown spacecraft entering planetary airspace—descending fast! All available units in Sector Twelve prepare for immediate interception!"
That sector was the same zone where the Aurelius patrol ship had recently landed.The announcement blared through the hangar, shaking everyone from routine.
The scramble
Commander Harold buckled his suit as alarms wailed.He toggled the comms. "Sara! Sara, respond!"
Through heavy breathing, her voice came through the static.Sara: "Yes sir, loud and clear!"
Harold: "Status report—what's happening out there?"
Sara: "No idea. Either an emergency drill or the real thing—but command's treating it as live."
Harold: "Carlo and Noah?"
Sara: "Negative, sir. Not in their dorms."
Harold: "Then we meet at the coordinates. Move!"
Sara: "Roger—bzzt."
The descent
High above, Femil's ship tore through the clouds. The hull glowed red from reentry, engines roaring as the Aegis' atmospheric currents struggled against the vessel's weight.
It slowed, thrusters flaring, and came down like a comet over the desert plain outside the military perimeter. Soldiers watched in awe and dread.
Soldier 1: "Is that… an alien craft?"
Soldier 2: "You kidding? Look at that thing! It's half the size of our carriers!"
The ship settled onto the ground, engines whining into silence. Steam hissed from its vents, cloaking the landing zone in smoke.
Soldier 1: "I can't see a thing!"
From within the haze, a voice rang out—calm, human.Femil: "Yo! What's up? Relax, I'm not an alien. I'm one of you."
The soldiers froze.
First contact
Carlo arrived first, weapon drawn. "Prove it," he said sharply. "We've had reports of shapeshifters—Moryxils. They can mimic anything."
Femil grinned. "You're sharp, soldier. The ones you're afraid of—yes, the Moryxils. Nasty little parasites."
Carlo's eyes narrowed. "How would you know about them?"
Femil shrugged. "Let's call it classified history." He glanced around. "Now, where's your commanding officer? We need to talk."
Soldier 3: "Who do you think you are, giving orders?"
Femil smirked. "See these stars?" He pointed to the six engraved emblems across his chest plate. "Each one marks a campaign I survived—victories the old Empire bled for."
The soldiers looked at each other. No one recognized the insignia. To them, they were meaningless decorations from a forgotten myth.
Soldier 3 burst out laughing. "Nice story, pal. You expect us to believe that?"
Before the argument could escalate, Harold and Sara arrived.
Harold kept his voice steady. "You. With me."
Femil tilted his head, half-smiling. "Hmph… fine." He lowered his voice, speaking only to his ship's AI. "Sarah, scan the planet. What's Earth's current military strength against off-world threats?"
SARAH: "Scanning… assessing global power grid, technological development, and strategic capacity."A pause. "Result: probability of planetary defense victory against Moryxil-class invasion—twenty percent. Probability of total planetary destruction in engagement—eighty percent."
Femil gave a dry laugh. "So simply saying we're dead, huh? Figures."
Before Femil broke through the clouds of Earth, far across the void, the Moryxil Advance Fleet of Sector Theta-9 observed his movements from the shadow of the Aegis barrier.
The command vessel pulsed like a living heart, its bridge illuminated by bioluminescent veins that crawled across the walls.Commander Tza'lor, his translucent form rippling with violet light, stood before the main viewing membrane as his drones shadowed the unknown craft.
Tza'lor: "Magnify that structure. It's far too large for a fighter. I want full scans—composition, energy source, propulsion pattern."
The crew hissed their acknowledgment. Organic consoles twitched and glowed as data streamed in. Then, on the main screen, the image sharpened—the pilot of the mysterious ship smirked.
Tza'lor froze. "Does he… know he's being followed?"
Before anyone could respond, the feed cut out. Static.Then silence.
Technician: "Commander! All scout drones lost contact—signal terminated!"
Tza'lor: "Damn it!" His body flared crimson in anger. "Anything recovered?"
Technician: "Only one fragment, sir—a single visual frame of the ship's exterior."
Tza'lor: "Send it to Byzon. He has clearance for the classified archives."
Technician: "At once."
Tza'lor stared at the fading hologram of the destroyed drones. A thin smile crept across his shifting face.Tza'lor: "A mysterious race indeed… One blast, and our patrol ship—equipped with the strongest shields we've ever built—disintegrated like dust. Intriguing…"
At the Edge of the Aegis
Near the faint fracture in the Aegis field—the small gap that had allowed their scouts to enter—the infiltration fleet gathered under High Commander Byzon, master of covert operations.
They worked furiously to unravel the Aegis' encryption layers, the last remnants of humanity's great defense.
Byzon: "Report. Are you close to disabling that field? The main fleet is already en route."
Engineer: "Negative, sir. This technology—it's beyond comprehension. Every algorithm folds into another. It's like the barrier anticipates our decryption."
Byzon's tendrils coiled with irritation.Byzon: "Tssk. What am I supposed to tell the Supreme Leader? That the ancient ghosts outsmarted us again?"
Before the engineer could answer, a holo-transmission blinked to life—a message from the central archives.
Byzon: "Hmm… Hort, scan this new ship. Cross-reference it with the ancient encounter logs. Use the restricted human warfare files."
Hort: "Yes, commander. Accessing the archives now."
Moments later, fragments of old Moryxil combat footage appeared in the air.Static-filled recordings—chaotic battles from a thousand years ago. Ships moved like streaks of light, weapons bending physics itself.
Byzon: "Play the relevant section."
The room darkened as the footage ran. A single human vessel darted between Moryxil cruisers, vanishing and reappearing at impossible angles. Blasts missed, shields failed. Notes from long-dead soldiers scrolled alongside the footage:
"Do not engage these crafts directly. They move faster than perception. Hit them with area-wide shock bursts—never face them alone."
Byzon's expression twisted into something between awe and fear.
Byzon: "So the legends were true… the First Empire is this scary."He leaned forward, voice low and cold.Byzon: "Prepare the relay to the Brood Council. Tell them the enemy has noticed our actions."