They came through together.
Four figures. No carrier. No mount. No visible machine supporting their movement.
They crossed the enormous doorway behind the Howengert army and entered Earth's atmosphere as if the distance between worlds had been nothing more than a corridor.
The portal monitoring systems identified them immediately. Not by name. By energy.
The numbers were too familiar. Too high. Inside the global command centre, one analyst stopped typing.
-Four.
Nobody asked what he meant. Fiana moved closer to the main screen. Four small markers separated themselves from the larger transport signatures. David stared at them.
A few months ago, there had been five. He did not say it. Neither did anyone else. The absence sat in the room anyway.
One of the analysts enlarged the satellite feed. The image sharpened. Dierrera. Broxomos. Deighore. Emdus.
Derdamos was nowhere among them.
Broxomos was the easiest to identify even from the distorted long-range image. His body moved differently from the others, heavier somehow, as if flight itself were something he tolerated only because walking would take too long.
Dierrera remained slightly ahead. No formation had been announced. No order was heard. Yet the other three followed his movement naturally. Then all four accelerated. The analyst leaned toward his screen.
-They're heading west.
David looked toward the tactical map.
-Which western line?
-We don't have enough data yet. Could be any of them.
Fiana watched the projection. The Four ignored the Howengert carriers spreading beneath them. They ignored the evacuated island. They ignored the naval formations retreating toward defensive positions. They ignored the aircraft that had already begun tracking their movement from extreme range.
They simply kept going. David pointed at the map.
-Project it.
The analyst entered the data. A line appeared. Then widened into a cone. Hundreds of possible destinations. The western islands. The southern coastline. The continental interior. Several major military sectors.
David watched.
The cone narrowed. The Four continued accelerating. The projection recalculated. Narrower. Fiana's expression changed. She stepped closer. The analyst noticed.
-Something wrong?
Fiana did not answer him. The projection narrowed again. Now only one major defensive sector sat near its center. The western Caribbean interior.
David looked at the marker. Then at Fiana. Neither spoke.
The analyst glanced between them.
-Sir?
David remained still. The marker was labelled with an OPESTM designation.
GS-01. Paulverizer.
Fiana finally looked at David.
-Move him.
David did not answer.
-Move him now.
-I heard you.
-Then stop staring at the map.
David turned toward her.
-And put him where?
-Anywhere that isn't directly underneath four Five Leaves.
-What if they follow?
-Good. Then we'll know.
David looked at her. Fiana's patience disappeared.
-No, don't do that. Don't stand there calculating whether confirmation is worth the risk. If they change direction with him, we learn they're after Paul. If they don't, we learn we're wrong. Either answer is better than leaving him exactly where four monsters are flying.
David looked back at the screen. His jaw tightened.
-If we move Paul and they follow, we've just turned one of our three Grand Super Soldiers into bait.
Fiana leaned both hands against the table.
-David, he's already bait. The only difference is whether he knows it.
That ended the argument. David turned.
-Open direct communication with Paul.
Paul was already on the ground when the call came.
The aircraft that had carried him inland was disappearing behind the trees, leaving him with two OPESTM units, several local battalions and a temporary command installation established inside an abandoned military complex.
Nobody there had seen the Four yet. They had seen everything else. Howengert carriers crossing the sky. Distant flashes over the ocean. Aircraft moving toward the coast. Emergency communication channels filled with voices speaking too quickly. Paul stood beside a tactical vehicle while soldiers unloaded equipment.
His communicator activated. David. Paul answered.
-David.
-Stay where you are.
Paul looked at the device.
Around him, soldiers continued moving. One dragged an ammunition container past his feet. Paul stepped aside.
-You called the second-fastest man in your army to tell him not to move.
David did not respond. Paul's expression changed. He walked away from the nearest soldiers.
-What's coming?
Still no answer. Paul stopped.
-David.
The silence lasted just long enough. Then David spoke.
-Four of them crossed.
Paul's face hardened. He did not ask which four. He knew.
-Where are they headed?
David hesitated. That was enough. Paul looked toward the sky.
-No.
-Paul…
-Don't say my name like you're about to give me bad news. Just give me the bad news.
David exhaled.
-Their projected path is centered on your position.
Paul said nothing. The sounds around him seemed farther away. Men shouting. Engines. Metal being dragged across concrete. Someone testing a weapon.
Paul kept looking at the sky.
Four. He remembered the island. The bodies.
Mason.
The effortless way the Five Leaves had stood among Earth's weapons as though humanity had mistaken noise for strength. Then another memory surfaced.
Khael, Cinderborn, The First Ember.
They know what you could become. Paul closed his eyes for half a second. David was still speaking.
-We are considering relocating you.
Paul opened his eyes.
-Don't.
David stopped. Paul continued.
-If they're coming for me, moving me just drags them across another defensive line.
-We don't know they're coming for you.
-Then why are we having this conversation?
David had no immediate reply. Paul looked toward the soldiers around him. Most of them did not know yet. They were preparing to fight the Howengert army. They had no idea something worse was approaching.
-How long?
-Eight minutes. Maybe less.
Paul nodded to himself.
-Alright.
-Paul, that wasn't permission to stay.
Paul ended the call.
Far north of him, Veronica stood inside a temporary continental command facility when her own tactical display updated. She saw the Four. Then their trajectory. Then Paul's marker. She remained still.
Major Elara Venn stood beside her. Elite-class Super Soldier. Thirty-two years old. A disciplined field commander with a reputation for staying calm long after everyone else had begun shouting. Her ability was magnetic field manipulation.
Not enough to tear cities apart. Enough to bend metal projectiles, interfere with machinery, pull weapons out of hands and create violent magnetic acceleration through prepared metal objects.
She had been placed beneath Veronica because their abilities complemented each other. Veronica broke armor.
Elara controlled what remained around it. Elara watched the same screen.
-That's not random.
Veronica reached for the fastening on her combat gloves.
-No.
Elara glanced at her. Veronica began checking the energy regulators around her wrists.
-Sector command belongs to you until I return.
Elara did not move. Veronica looked up.
-Did you hear me?
-Yes, Sir!
She looked at the screen again.
-I was waiting for the part where they started making sense.
Veronica's eyes narrowed slightly. Elara continued before she could speak.
-This entire northern line was built around your range. The coastal batteries are positioned expecting you to break anything heavy enough to survive their first barrage. If you leave, I can hold the line together for a while. I cannot become you because you're worried about your husband.
The room became quieter. Not silent. Too much was happening for silence. But several nearby officers suddenly became very interested in their own screens.
Veronica looked at Elara for a long moment. Then continued fastening the glove.
-Four Five Leaves have crossed an invasion force, ignored every military target between the portal and the western interior, and chosen the position of one Grand Super Soldier.
Elara folded her arms.
-That doesn't make this sector less important.
-No. It makes him more important than we understood.
Elara watched her. Veronica continued.
-If this were only personal, I would stay here.
That sentence came out cleanly. Too cleanly. Elara noticed. She did not challenge it. Instead she stepped toward the map.
-If you go, I want the western artillery grid transferred to me. Full authority. No approval chain through headquarters.
-Granted.
-I also want control over the naval rail batteries.
-They're outside your command.
-Then don't leave.
Veronica looked at her. Elara finally looked back. For several seconds neither moved. Then Veronica reached toward the console and entered her authorization.
The command map changed. Elara's access level expanded. Veronica stepped away. Elara watched her go.
-Veronica.
She stopped. Elara did not say be careful. Did not say bring him back. She looked at the Four moving across the screen.
-If they turn north while you're gone, I'm blaming you personally.
Veronica almost smiled.
-Alright.
Then she left. De Nemo required less conversation. His aircraft had barely reached the eastern Caribbean defense sector when the new information arrived. A young officer hurried toward him across the temporary coastal command platform.
-Sir, headquarters has updated the Four Leaves trajectory. They're moving west. Current projection places them beyond our defensive sector, so command believes…
De Nemo raised one hand. The officer stopped. De Nemo looked at the tactical display the young man was holding.
-Where's Paul?
The officer blinked.
-Sir?
-The Grand Super Soldier, Paulverizer.
He pointed at the screen.
-Where did they put him?
The officer brought up the deployment map. De Nemo looked at it for perhaps three seconds. Then turned toward the aircraft he had just left. The officer followed.
-Sir, they're not coming here.
-That is the problem.
De Nemo kept walking. The officer looked genuinely confused now.
-Then where are you going?
De Nemo stopped beside the aircraft ramp. He looked back at the coastline. Soldiers were still taking positions. Artillery vehicles were moving toward reinforced points. Naval vessels were visible beyond the harbor. Six Super Soldier units waited along the surrounding defense grid.
Then he looked at the officer.
-You were defending this place before I arrived, weren't you?
The young man hesitated.
-Yes, sir, but…
-Then continue.
The officer frowned.
-You're the only Grand Super Soldier assigned to this entire sector.
De Nemo nodded.
-That does sound important when you say it like that.
-Sir, I'm serious.
-So am I.
The officer stepped closer.
-If those carriers reach this coastline after you leave, what exactly are we supposed to do?
De Nemo looked at him. For once, no joke followed.
-What you were going to do before I got here.
The officer opened his mouth. De Nemo continued before he could argue.
-You have coastal artillery. Naval support. Air cover. Six Super Soldier units. Enough conventional weapons to make anyone landing here regret choosing the beach.
He pointed toward the western side of the map.
-Paul has four Five Leaves moving toward him.
The officer looked at the map. Then back at Nemo. De Nemo climbed the ramp.
-I think you'll forgive me for being rude and choosing the more interesting problem.
The officer still stood there.
-Sir.
De Nemo paused. The young man seemed to search for something useful to say. Nothing came. De Nemo waited anyway. Finally, the officer stepped back and saluted.
De Nemo nodded. The ramp closed.
Mpho found out thirty seconds later. He stared at the tactical display inside his transport. Four red markers. One blue.
Paul.
-Why Paul?
Nesar was sitting opposite him, tightening the armor around one forearm.
-Because he's important.
Mpho looked up.
-Thank you. Extraordinary analysis.
Nesar said nothing. He finished tightening the strap. Mpho continued staring at the display. His thumb hovered near the communication panel.
Nesar noticed.
-Don't.
Mpho looked at him.
-Don't what?
Nesar nodded toward his hand. Mpho slowly moved it away.
-I wasn't doing anything.
-You were about to ask permission to leave.
Mpho leaned back.
-And if I was?
-Paul has two Grand Super Soldiers moving toward him.
Mpho's eyes narrowed.
-How do you know that?
Nesar looked at him. Mpho waited. Then realized.
-You checked.
Nesar returned his attention to his armor. Mpho's expression softened slightly. For a moment he said nothing.
Then,
-You could have just told me.
-You would've still tried to go.
Mpho thought about that. Then looked through the transport window toward the ocean below. Several dark shapes were visible in the distance. Enemy carriers. Nesar followed his gaze.
-The people coming here have us.
That was all he said. Mpho looked at him again. This time there was no joke. He reached down and tightened his own gloves.
The first marine battle began twelve kilometers from the nearest island defense line. A Howengert carrier descended too low over the ocean.
Three naval vessels immediately fired. Missiles crossed the water. The carrier turned. Not fast enough. Two missiles struck its side.
Fire erupted across the armor. For several seconds, soldiers aboard the ships cheered. Then the carrier continued moving. Damaged. But moving.
A Super Soldier named Kael Ramires stood on the forward deck of the nearest vessel. Normal-class. Water manipulation. He extended both hands. The sea rose. Not like a wave created by wind. Like something underneath it had suddenly stood up.
Thousands of tonnes of water climbed around the damaged carrier. Kael's arms shook.
-Hold fire!
The naval commander beside him stared.
-You're blocking our shot!
-Exactly!
The water crashed inward. The carrier tilted. Metal screamed. For the first time, its engines lost balance. A second marine Super Soldier attacked beneath the surface.
Nadia Serrin.
Hydrostatic pressure. She descended twenty meters beneath the ocean and focused on the lower section of the carrier. The water around its damaged engine compartment compressed. The metal bent inward. The carrier dropped.
Howengert warriors began jumping from it before it hit the sea. One landed directly into the water.
Five metres of armored muscle. Heavy sword. No hesitation.
It sank. Then the creature beneath it surfaced. A massive carnivorous mount exploded through the water with the Howengert still seated on its back.
Kael stared.
-Oh, come on.
The beast charged through the waves. Machine guns opened fire.
The Howengert raised its sword. One swing. The blue edge cut through the front section of a patrol craft. Not damaged. Cut. The vessel separated. Sailors jumped into the water.
Kael's expression changed completely. He pulled both arms backward. The sea followed. Then he drove his hands forward. A wall of water struck the Howengert and its beast from the side. Both disappeared beneath the surface. Nadia's voice came through his communicator.
-Pressure field ready.
Kael breathed heavily.
-Wait.
The beast surfaced again. Kael almost laughed.
-NOW!
The water around it compressed. The Howengert's mount screamed. Its body was forced downward. The rider tried to rise. Kael pulled the surrounding current sideways.
The Howengert was ripped off the creature. Local soldiers on the nearest ship fired everything they had. For the first time that day, a Howengert bled into Earth's ocean.
Nobody celebrated.
There were seventeen more falling from the damaged carrier. On another coastline, conventional soldiers saw the enemy for the first time. They had been told the height. They had seen satellite images. Neither had prepared them.
The first mounted Howengert came down a road between two abandoned buildings. Its head almost reached the second floor. The beast beneath it breathed heavily through rows of exposed teeth.
A young local soldier froze behind a concrete barrier. His commander grabbed the back of his armor and dragged him down just before the Howengert's sword moved.
The slash passed over them. The building behind them opened. Not cracked. Opened. A diagonal section of concrete slid away and collapsed into the street.
The young soldier stared. His commander slapped the side of his helmet.
-Look at me.
The soldier did.
-You can be scared after you fire.
The man shoved a launcher into his hands.
-Aim.
The soldier turned. His hands were trembling. He aimed anyway. All along the Atlantic defense arcs, thousands of others did the same.
De Nemo reached the western Caribbean coastline first. He stepped out of the aircraft before the engines had fully settled. Local forces were already deployed across the area.
Artillery, armored vehicles, OPESTM units, three Normal-class Super Soldiers. A regional commander approached.
-Sir, thank God. We were told you might….
-Move your people.
The commander stopped.
-Excuse me?
-Deeper inland. Split them between the north and south reinforcement lines.
The commander stared at him.
-Sir, we're here to defend this coastline.
-Then defend it somewhere else.
The man's face tightened.
-With respect, Grand Soldier, those orders make no sense. Enemy carriers are already entering the western sector. If we abandon this po….
De Nemo walked past him. The commander followed.
-Sir.
Nemo stopped. The man had not finished. De Nemo let him.
-We've spent six months building this line. My soldiers know these positions. Artillery is ranged for this coastline. Evacuation routes are behind us. If I start moving people now, I break the entire defense just before contact.
De Nemo looked toward the sea. Then upward. The commander waited. Finally Nemo pointed toward the horizon.
-Those four aren't coming for your coastline.
The commander looked. Nothing there. Not yet. De Nemo continued.
-They're coming through it.
The commander slowly lowered his gaze.
-You want to face them here.
De Nemo did not answer. The commander studied him. Then looked at the empty road behind them.
-Sir, with all due respect…
Nemo raised one hand. Not sharply. The man stopped anyway.
-Go protect the people they're actually here to kill.
The commander remained still. De Nemo looked at him.
-I'll deal with the ones who think they're passing through.
That was enough. The commander turned. Orders began moving through the line. Vehicles started withdrawing. Artillery repositioned. Soldiers who had spent months preparing that coastline began leaving it behind.
De Nemo remained.
Within minutes, the road was almost empty. The sea moved quietly beside him. He rolled one shoulder. Pain travelled down his back. He waited for it to pass.
It didn't. He ignored it. Then the horizon changed. Four distant shapes.
Fast. Too fast. They crossed the sky without slowing. De Nemo watched them approach.
Closer.
Closer.
He could feel the pressure of their presence now. The same unnatural weight Earth had felt before. The Four did not change direction. Did not descend. Did not acknowledge him.
They were going to pass directly overhead. De Nemo looked up. For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he understood. They hadn't come for him. They didn't even consider him part of the mission. The old man slowly rolled his neck. Something cracked. He looked at the four figures approaching through the sky.
Then smiled.
Not because anything was funny. Because after a lifetime of being considered dangerous... he had finally discovered what it felt like to be ignored.
And he did not like it.
To be continued...