The Terium Nexus
A facility created to contain what would soon become a frontier asset, a potential turning point in an ongoing war.
It all began a few decades ago. Back then, Earth was no longer habitable. Climate change had ravaged the planet, the ozone layer was completely depleted, and the most basic necessity, oxygen, was in short supply. Without the ozone layer, plants and trees withered and died, either burning up in relentless heat or drying out from the lack of moisture. Oxygen became a precious commodity, accessible only to the wealthy, and the global population began to decline at an alarming rate. The governments of nations across multiple continents, recognizing that they couldn't afford to stay divided, united to find a solution. At the current rate, humanity was facing extinction.
During an exploration of Mars as a potential habitat, humans stumbled upon something extraordinary, technology far beyond anything they understood. The discovery fueled rumors of intelligent alien life at the top of the cosmic hierarchy, but further exploration turned up no trace of these beings. Had they vanished? Or had they once existed, like the dinosaurs, and simply disappeared over time?
These questions only deepened humanity's drive to understand what they had found. Over time, researchers determined the device's true purpose: it was an atomic molecular duplication tool. Unlike a portal, which transports a person from one location to another, this device broke down a subject's structure at the molecular level and replicated that data somewhere else entirely. After numerous trials and errors, they established that the device had a fixed destination, presumably its point of origin. A year of further research led to a group of explorers volunteering as test subjects. The AMD, or Atomic Molecular Duplicator, was used on them.
They were apprehensive about what might be waiting on the other side, but upon arrival, they found an entirely new planet that was strikingly similar to Earth, or at least, that's how it appeared at first. They survived there for a month and a half and confirmed that the planet was habitable. Everything essential to human life was present: an intact ozone layer, breathable oxygen, seemingly edible fruit, and, most critically, water. On Earth, water had evaporated to such a degree that it had become as valuable as gold.
They returned to Earth with good news, and humanity's reaction was one of collective relief. A new world, seemingly without threats, felt almost too good to be true, and it was. One question still loomed over everything: who had created this technology? It couldn't have appeared out of nowhere, and there had to be someone, or something, behind it.
But there wasn't time to wait for answers. More than half the world's population had already disappeared, and humanity was running out of options. The choice was simple: move forward and face whatever came next, or stay and die, because even the wealthy couldn't hold on much longer.
Within a year, what remained of humanity migrated to the new world. At first, there seemed to be nothing they couldn't handle. Over time, however, creatures began to emerge that defied the laws of nature entirely, beings that shouldn't have existed outside of fantasy novels. Conventional weapons were useless against them, and nuclear arms made no difference either. Desperation set in, and the question returned: were they facing extinction again?
Then a man named Rayan Trennel discovered creatures known as elves. The revelation shocked humanity, given that no one had ever believed such beings could actually exist. Rayan's encounter was the only one humans had during that period, and it left people wondering whether the elves were simply elusive, or whether something else was going on.
An elf named Yemen taught Rayan the rules of the new world, including how to awaken an affinity to an element. With that knowledge came a genuine sense of hope. Ten years passed quickly, and by then, the manipulation of mana had become commonplace, so much so that it was considered unusual for someone not to use it. With this power, humanity climbed back to the top of the food chain.
That ascent came with a terrible revelation, though. They hadn't found safety. They had been bred for slaughter. A powerful being had kept the elves hidden for years, and one day, Yemen disappeared without a trace. No one knew where he had gone or how to find him. His only message to humanity was to be prepared, because the worst was still ahead.
As it turned out, the elves had left the device on Mars deliberately. It was an elaborate scheme to lure humans to the planet, because the elves themselves were losing a war against creatures they couldn't defeat alone. They had placed the receiver in a remote part of the planet, concealed until they decided humanity was ready. Now that mana had become widespread, that time had come.
The elves' true intentions didn't become clear until humanity encountered the creatures known as Tradaqs. These beings had humanoid forms but were unlike anything humans had ever seen. They were covered in a distinct type of scale that functioned like armor, either white or dark gray, making them nearly impenetrable. They had no visible eyes, and their mouths were lined with teeth arranged in a vortex pattern, while each limb ended in three razor-sharp claws. They were a threat unlike anything humanity had prepared for.