The forest was no longer a sanctuary; it had become a green-walled tomb. General Leah sprinted through the dense undergrowth, her breath coming in ragged, desperate hitches as she clutched her mangled, bloody arm to her chest. The air behind her screamed with the sound of incoming death. A high-velocity missile pod from the Apex Predator detonated just meters away, the sheer force of the shockwave tossing her through the air like a ragdoll.
Her scream of agony was swallowed whole by the roar of the forest and the splintering of ancient trees.
Leah hit the ground hard, tumbling through the dirt and thorns. Through a haze of blinding pain, she saw it—the massive Avatar. It was a towering silhouette of doom marching through the canopy, its footsteps shaking the very foundation of the earth. Gritting her teeth against the white noise in her head, she dragged her broken body toward a narrow crevice in a nearby rock face. She rolled into the suffocating darkness of the small cave and fumbled for her flashlight, clicking it off just as the Avatar's gargantuan shadow loomed over her hiding spot. She lay there in the silence, pulse drumming in her ears, praying to a god she hadn't spoken to in years that the machine wouldn't look down.
Twenty-four hours passed in a blur of fever, cold sweat, and darkness. Finally, the rhythmic, bone-deep thudding of the Avatar's steps faded into nothingness. Leah crawled out of the cave, her uniform tattered and soaked through with dark blood. She used her good hand to squeeze her wounded arm, trying to stem the slow flow of life leaving her body.
Weakly, she reached for her walkie-talkie, her fingers trembling. "Overseer... help..."
The effort drained the last of her strength. Leah collapsed into the mud, her eyes fluttering shut as her breathing slowed to a faint, wet rattle.
When she finally drifted back to consciousness, the world was swaying beneath her. She wasn't on the ground; she was draped across the massive, armored back of the Overseer. She reached out with a shaky hand, gripping one of the beast's jagged spikes for stability.
"Thank you, Overseer..." she whispered. The guardian let out a low, resonant growl—a sound that felt like a deep vibration in her own chest. She reached forward, weakly patting its massive, prehistoric head.
Suddenly, the great beast came to a halt. "Why did you stop?" Leah asked, squinting against the harsh light. She looked over the Overseer's shoulder and blinked in relief. The jagged, metallic silhouette of the GDA-Base rose from the horizon.
Leah hopped off the Overseer, her legs nearly giving out the moment her boots hit the dirt. She limped through the primary gates, her appearance sending a ripple of shock through the bustling crowds. Murmurs followed her like a ghost's wake—the General was supposed to be dead.
She pushed open the heavy laboratory doors, her voice raspy and sharp despite her exhaustion. "Hey, Advisor. I found a new piece of Xenon tech. The damn thing has voice lines... it screamed at us before it slaughtered my expedition." She looked around the room, her brow furrowed in the dim light. "Advisor?"
A group of scientists looked up from their tablets, their faces turning pale at the sight of her. "I'm sorry, General Leah," one spoke up tentatively. "He's still traveling through the void. He's diverted the fleet to intercept Dr. Xenon's orbital command station."
Leah's eyes flared with a volatile mix of exhaustion and fury. "Fine. Just fucking heal me."
Minutes later, Leah was in the medical bay. She sat on the edge of the table, her shirt removed as medics worked feverishly on her battered torso. Her muscles were taut, mapped with jagged scars from a dozen wars and fresh, deep lacerations that still seeped.
The lead medic looked at her x-rays and shuddered, his hands shaking slightly. "General Leah... you have multiple dislocated bones and three hairline fractures. How were you even able to walk?"
Leah stared straight ahead, her jaw set like stone. "The Overseer helped me."
Before the medic could respond, the bay doors hissed open. The Advisor stepped in, his posture rigid and tense. Even behind the cold visor of his helmet, the raw fear in his aura was palpable, vibrating through the small room.
Leah looked up at him, a tired, cynical smirk crossing her bloody lips. "How was the trip, Advisor?"