Prologue
Seeker drones hummed overhead, their mechanical eyes scanning the litter-strewn streets of what was once New York City.
A middle-aged man walked beneath them, keeping his head down as he navigated the crowded sidewalks. The city had become a shadow of its former self. Buildings stood battered and abandoned, their windows shattered and their facades scarred by years of conflict. Makeshift shelters occupied storefronts, and the few businesses still operating did so behind reinforced glass and steel barricades.
A holographic announcement flickered above the sidewalk.
NEXT GENERATION ORION IS HERE.
Beneath the headline was the face of a young woman. Dark brunette hair framed her features, and her expression was calm, almost indifferent, despite the significance of the announcement.
The man slowed to read the text beside her photograph.
ATHENA DAVIS, AGE 19.
Survivor of the largest nano-chip implantation in GSIF history. Fifteen chips successfully integrated.
This breakthrough marks a new chapter in humanity’s fight against the Ederos. Athena Davis will lead the next generation of Orion soldiers.
“Another girl for the slaughter,” a man beside him muttered, shaking his head.
The middle-aged man glanced at him.
“They’re heroes.”
The stranger turned, a crooked smirk pulling at his mouth.
“They’re alien fodder. Nothing but false hope and propaganda. They should be helping us repopulate, not wasting their lives on a battlefield. Women have no business fighting a war.”
The man studied him for a moment.
“Have you ever fought alongside them?”
“Me? A soldier?” The stranger let out a humorless laugh. “I wouldn’t give those bastards the satisfaction. I keep my head down and take what I can from the miserable life we’ve been left with.”
He shook his head and looked back toward the hologram.
“We’re all going to die eventually.”
A deafening siren interrupted him.
The city’s alarm system blared overhead, its warning tones echoing between the buildings. Within seconds, the sidewalks erupted into chaos. People abandoned their belongings and rushed toward the nearest shelters. Metal security shutters slammed down over storefronts while emergency lights flashed red along the street.
Ederos breach.
The announcement repeated through the city’s speakers.
The middle-aged man barely had time to look up before the first shadows appeared overhead.
Stalkers.
They descended from the clouds in droves, their enormous silhouettes blotting out what little sunlight made it through the smog. Eight-foot monsters with broad, armored bodies dropped toward the streets, their black exoskeletons glistening like polished metal. Their forelimbs ended in elongated blades, and their mouths split open to reveal rows of jagged teeth.
The first creature struck the pavement hard enough to send cracks racing through the concrete.
Then came the screaming.
People scattered in every direction as the Stalkers tore through the crowd. One lunged at a fleeing civilian, its bladed appendages slicing through him before he could reach the shelter entrance. Another opened its mouth and sprayed a stream of toxic venom across the street. The liquid struck a parked vehicle, eating through its metal exterior as smoke rose from the ruined surface.
The middle-aged man stumbled backward.
“Son of a bitch.”
He hurried toward an abandoned storefront a few paces away. Its glass had been shattered long ago, leaving nothing but jagged fragments clinging to the frame. He stepped inside, pressing himself against the concrete wall beneath the window.
Outside, the stranger who had been arguing with him stood frozen in the street.
A Stalker turned toward him.
It lowered its massive body, its bladed limbs scraping against the pavement as it advanced.
The man didn’t move.
“YOU MOTHERFU—”
The creature lunged.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
A wet, sickening sound followed by the clatter of metal against concrete filled the street. When he dared to look again, the stranger was gone. The Stalker had torn through him in a single strike.
The creature lowered its head and began crawling toward the storefront.
Then gunfire erupted from the opposite end of the street.
The Stalker twisted toward the sound.
A formation of soldiers advanced through the smoke, their weapons raised. They wore black, reinforced combat suits, the armor fitted tightly around their bodies and layered with protective plating. Their movements were coordinated, deliberate. They didn’t hesitate as the creatures turned toward them.
And among them walked a woman.
Her blonde hair was secured behind her head, and her uniform stood out sharply against the soldiers surrounding her. A white and grey bodysuit covered her from neck to ankle, its smooth surface broken by reinforced panels along her chest, arms, and legs.
An Orion.
The soldiers spread into formation. Those at the front raised their arms, activating the energy-absorption systems integrated into their suits. The Stalker’s protective field flickered as the soldiers began drawing energy from it, weakening its defenses.
The Orion stepped forward.
For a moment, everything seemed to stop.
Then light erupted from her hands.
A brilliant sphere of energy formed between her palms before expanding outward in a blinding blast. The force struck the Stalker with a deafening crack, tearing through its protective field. The creature recoiled, its armored body illuminated from within by the white-hot flash.
The middle-aged man turned away, raising an arm to shield his eyes.
Even from inside the storefront, he felt the blast.
The hairs along his arms and the back of his neck stood on end. A low vibration rolled through the pavement beneath his feet, rattling the broken glass around him.
When he looked again, the light had begun to fade.
The soldiers were moving.
Their weapons opened fire as the Stalkers charged, the sound of high-impact rounds echoing between the buildings. With their shields compromised, the creatures were suddenly vulnerable. Shots struck their exposed joints, their underbellies, and the softer tissue around their heads. One collapsed beneath a barrage of gunfire. Another staggered before a soldier drove a piercing round into the base of its skull.
The remaining Stalkers screeched, their high-pitched cries reverberating through the street.
The Orion stood at the center of it all, her hands still glowing.
The man stared at her.
Now he understood why they called them heroes and why people were so afraid of them.
