Terra Preta

Heavens Fall - Part 2

The screens flickered, the holographic map shifting as another region went dark, consumed by the chaos. A wave of nausea rolled through Valen's gut, a sickening feeling of helplessness that he hadn't experienced even in the most brutal battles. His fingers hovered over the controls, hesitation creeping in. He had led countless operations, made decisions that cost lives for the sake of strategy. But this... this was something else. Entire regions were falling. Cities. Nations. The survival of humanity as they knew it was teetering on the edge of oblivion.

"Valen, we've made a terrifying discovery," Voss's voice crackled through the comms, his words punctuated by ragged breaths.

"The comet fragments... it's not just an attack. It's... it's an experiment." Voss said.

Valen's blood ran cold. "An experiment? What kind of experiment?" He asked.

Voss said, eyes were wide with fear, his voice trembling. "We're being studied, Valen. Like lab rats. The comet, the virus... it's all designed to push us to the brink, to see how we break, how we change."

A wave of revulsion washed over Valen, a visceral reaction to the cold, clinical detachment in Voss's voice. He looked at the map, now a tapestry of crimson and black, marking the zones of destruction, mutation, and unrest that blanketed the globe. He imagined unseen eyes watching them, dissecting their every move, their every struggle, their every death. It was a violation, a perversion of the natural order.

"They think they can treat us like animals in a cage, prodding and experimenting on us as they please?" Valen spat, his voice thick with disgust. He slammed his fist on the console, the metal groaning under the force of his anger. "We won't be their fucking playthings!"

Just then, Valen's console blared with an incoming alert. An automated voice echoed through the command center: "Warning: multiple breaches detected. Sector 7 security is compromised."

Valen's blood ran cold. Sector 7 housed the primary research labs, the heart of their operation, the source of their last hope. He slammed his fist on the table.

"Lieutenant, report! What's your status?" He asked through the comm link.

He then heard Ramirez's panicked voice. "Sir, we've secured the research data, but we're encountering heavy resistance in the lower levels," an officer reported over the comms, his voice strained with the effort of fighting and fear.

"They've breached the security doors on Level 3. We're pinned down. Casualties are mounting. Requesting immediate backup!"

Valen's jaw tightened. He looked at the tactical display. There wasn't enough time. The teams were scattered, some already making their way out, others trapped deep within the facility, fighting to keep the vital research out of enemy hands. He couldn't deploy additional forces without leaving the command center vulnerable. He cursed under his breath, his mind a whirlwind of calculations and desperate strategies.

"Commander Reyes?" Lieutenant Ramirez said, his voice crackled through the comms, desperation edging his tone. "We're trapped in the lab. There's too many of them. If we don't move now, we're all going to die down here."

Valen's mind raced. Every instinct screamed at him to protect the mission at all costs. But deep down, he knew what had to be done. There was only one way to ensure that the research—their one chance at controlling the virus—made it out. It required a diversion. A distraction big enough to pull the creatures away from the evac route.

"Lieutenant, listen to me," Valen spoke with a forced calm that belied the storm inside him. "I'm on my way to you. But I need you to buy me some time. Hold them off as long as you can."