The first city chosen by the Dominion was not the largest.
It was the most crowded.
Millions of civilians were still packed into its underground transit layers, evacuation stalled by repeated strikes on surrounding infrastructure. Legion units held the perimeter, their formations interlocked across streets and collapsed avenues, shields overlapping as green fire tested their limits again and again.
They held.
Barely.
Inside the planetary command core, the projections sharpened into clarity the Protector did not ignore.
This was not pressure.
It was a test.
Rakh was no longer probing for weakness. He was measuring response time, reaction limits, and emotional thresholds. The strike patterns around the city were deliberate, precise, designed to force intervention without committing full Dominion assets.
The Protector understood the intent instantly.
If he intervened personally, Rakh would escalate elsewhere.
If he did not, millions would die.
The Legion alone could delay the outcome.
Not prevent it.
The Protector issued a directive.
Legion perimeter units reinforced.
Orbital denial grid intensified.
Civilian extraction priority elevated beyond standard thresholds.
The Legion complied without hesitation.
Above the city, the clouds ruptured as a Varkhul assault group descended in tight formation, hulls glowing brighter than previous waves. Their weapons charged in unison, energy building toward a strike designed to collapse the entire district at once.
Legion anti-air batteries fired.
Red fire met green.
The exchange lit the sky.
Two Varkhul craft fell, spiraling into ruin beyond the city limits. A third pushed through, shields flaring as it absorbed impact after impact. Its weapons reached critical charge.
Legion targeting recalculated.
Insufficient.
In the shelters below, people felt the air vibrate.
A child pressed her hands over her ears. "It's coming," she whispered.
The Protector stepped into transit.
He did not appear above the city.
He appeared inside the strike envelope.
The Varkhul craft detected him a fraction of a second too late. Its targeting systems attempted to adjust, weapon arcs shifting toward the new threat.
The Protector fired once.
The projectile pierced the craft's core housing, collapsing its containment field inward. The vessel imploded silently, folding into itself before dispersing harmlessly in the upper atmosphere.
The city remained standing.
The Protector did not descend.
He did not reveal himself to the civilians below.
He withdrew.
The Legion resumed control of the airspace.
Above Earth, the data spike was unmistakable.
Rakh watched the replay in silence.
"He intervened," one of his strategists said. "Exactly where predicted."
"Yes," Rakh replied. "And nowhere else."
Rakh turned his attention to a different projection.
A second city.
Then a third.
"All units," Rakh ordered. "Initiate staggered pressure across all marked zones. Maintain threat posture without full engagement."
The Dominion adjusted.
Earth felt the weight of it immediately.
Warning alerts flared across multiple population centers at once. Legion units redeployed at maximum efficiency, but the scale was widening faster than even planetary coordination could comfortably absorb.
Inside the command core, the Protector recalculated.
This pattern would repeat endlessly.
Rakh was not seeking victory through force.
He was seeking exhaustion.
The solution was not more intervention.
It was denial.
The Protector elevated Legion autonomy one tier higher.
Planetary defense zones were redefined.
Each Legion formation received expanded engagement authority. Response windows shortened. Local command units were granted predictive override capacity.
The Legion would no longer wait for correction.
It would anticipate.
Across Earth, the effect was immediate.
Varkhul assault groups found their approach corridors collapsing before they could form. Interceptors rose to meet them earlier. Ground units shifted preemptively, denying favorable terrain before it could be exploited.
The Legion was learning.
Rakh narrowed his eyes as the data updated.
"This guardian adapts faster than projected," he said.
"Yes," the invasion commander replied. "But adaptation has limits."
Rakh studied the new response curves.
"No," he said quietly. "It has priorities."
He isolated a single node on the planetary projection.
A region dense with civilians.
Sparse with Legion heavy assets.
"Prepare a decisive demonstration," Rakh ordered. "Not annihilation. Visibility."
The intent was clear.
Make the cost undeniable.
On Earth, alarms sounded again.
This time, the Protector did not move immediately.
He watched.
Legion units surged to reinforce the threatened zone. Evacuation corridors activated. Defensive lattices rose in layered sequence.
The city did not panic.
It braced.
The Varkhul strike arrived.
Green fire hammered the outer shield line. Legion units absorbed the impact, returning fire in disciplined bursts. Buildings cracked but did not collapse. The perimeter held.
Rakh observed.
Then smiled.
"Again," he said.
The Protector's calculations shifted.
This would not end through endurance.
Rakh was correct about one thing.
Restraint had become predictable.
The Protector issued a new directive.
Legion strategic reserves authorized for planetary redeployment.
Not escalation.
Repositioning.
Across Earth, units long held in reserve began to surface. New formations rose from beneath the crust, their emergence controlled, measured, unmistakable.
The planet was not running out of defenders.
It had simply not revealed them yet.
Above the city, Varkhul commanders registered the shift too late.
New red signatures filled the tactical field.
The Legion counterattacked.
Not recklessly.
Decisively.
The Varkhul strike force was enveloped, flanked, and dismantled in under two minutes. Survivors withdrew under covering fire, abandoning the engagement entirely.
Rakh's expression hardened.
"So," he said. "There is more."
"Yes," the invasion commander replied. "Much more."
Rakh straightened.
"Then this war will not be decided by pressure alone," he concluded. "Prepare the next phase."
On Earth, the Protector stood within the command core, systems flowing in calm alignment.
The Legion had held.
The line had not broken.
But Rakh had learned something important.
Earth was defending.
Not retreating.
And the next phase would decide whether restraint could still shape the war.