“Finally!”

  Finlo Toshak exclaimed after reading the new message that had just been sent her way. She’d been working hard for months now on the Kharnidd project: verifying the data from dossier X, summarizing that data and analyzing its implications, compiling different reports for high command’s perusal, etc. She had collaborated with some of her colleagues in the military to create a basic combat training manual on fighting the most common Kharnidd types, complete with recommendations and valuable insights. It was probably the crown jewel of all her efforts. It had been done weeks ago, but it’d needed to undergo an intensive screening process for quality and secrecy reasons. Command had decided that certain portions of dossier X needed to be kept top secret, a fact that Finlo had needed to resign herself to and work around.

  It turned out that all that work hadn’t been for nothing, as she’d just gotten the message that the training manual had been cleared for release. Knowledge of the Kharnidd hadn’t spread through the entire military yet, but this manual would slot quite nicely into the public Xenos database that the Empire maintained. As a Xenos researcher herself, Finlo knew that the library was far from complete, but it was much better than nothing. Anyone with Network access could look at it, or even download a copy, so knowledge for dealing with the Kharnidd could now spread far and wide. Even other nations, which didn’t have direct access to the Empire’s Network, would get their hands on it eventually.

  She just hoped all her work would be put to good use.

  …

  A high wind blew across the barren, stony plains of Moon C2404. A yellow sun shone brightly in the blood-red sky above, next to the massive green gas giant the moon orbited. Atop the surface of this inhospitable place stood a small metal tower, with a modest array of bare-bones spaceship hangars at its base. The tower and the hangars were subject to moderate activity, with personnel running around and delivering/cataloguing the supplies regularly brought up from the tunnels below the tower’s surface. Some wore environmental suits to protect themselves from atmospheric radiation and supplement their oxygen intake. Only the Enhanced could live in this place without the suits, but this facility was staffed by specialized personnel who weren’t always Psionically empowered. In theory, the tower could have been pressurized and buffered by environmental controls instead, but there was a reason it wasn’t.

  The human activity was suddenly thrown into chaos as the ground began to rumble. On the plain outside of the tower, a massive chunk of rock suddenly began to rise into the air, revealing six large pillars below it that resembled legs. It looked like a six-legged rock turtle, with a head that was vaguely draconic in shape. Large clouds of dust and rocks were displaced by the rock creature’s movement, washing over the human construction and causing a chorus of yells and coughs to wrack the facility. The creature dwarfed the tower in height and width, and it stared down at the puny humans with an overbearing aura. Men and women clasped their hands over their ears as the rock Xenos released an enormous bellow, the monster’s cry an oppressive force crashing down on them and causing their bodies to vibrate. Its whole body glowed a bright emerald as its footsteps thundered toward the tower, the beast opening its gargantuan maw in anticipation.

  However, today the humans were protected. A streak of crimson light shot out from the top of the tower, making contact with the Xenos’s body with a titanic BOOM. It punched through the fiend like it was made of butter, creating a hole much larger than itself and exiting the beast’s back in the blink of an eye. The massive rock creature shuddered, its Psionic light vanishing as it was slaughtered in the blink of an eye. Its body crashed back into the ground with a rumble that was even more disruptive than its emergence, sending a massive wave of boulders and dirt tumbling toward the tower. A large ruby-colored shield sprang into existence between the tower and the debris, and the noise of rocks crashing against the Psionic barrier was truly deafening. The tower’s metal shook from the sustained CRRRRRAAAAAASSSHHH, a cloud of detritus parting against the barrier and streaking across the plain behind it.

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  Eventually, things died down, and people continued about their business. The barrier pushed forward, sending much of the dirt backward before it vanished. At the top of the tower, the creator of that barrier folded his arms and frowned thoughtfully. General Farhan Koronik had been stationed on this moon for good reason. Below this tower, a vast network of underground caves and pipes spread out deep into the moon’s crust. Some of those caves had likely collapsed in the recent attack, but they could be re-dug quickly. That network spread out and was connected to other towers within its sector. There were multiple sectors of these networks in different places throughout the satellite, making this one of the most populated locations in Frontier space. It wasn’t like a colony planet, with multiple FOBs and plans to build permanent settlements, but it was very important. There were even plans to build a Warp Gate here—all for one reason: Element 630.

  The purpose of all these tunnels and towers was simple. Mine and extract the significant Element 630 deposits present on the moon. This element was vital to power the Empire’s Warp technology, making it arguably the most critical strategic resource they possessed. Most of the major Element 630 deposits controlled by the Imperium were well within its own boundaries, carefully guarded, and thoroughly pacified of any Xenos. Moon D2404 was an exception in every way, as its Element 630 deposits had only been discovered relatively recently. Naturally, the Empire swooped in to claim the resources, since the moon was closer to their territories than any other nation’s. Yet, these actions remained a sore point for the other intergalactic polities. The Republic in particular had protested these moves severely.

  Tenuous diplomatic situation or otherwise, Moon 2404 had evolved into an important supplier of Element 630 to the Empire, despite its inhospitable character. Pacifying the place permanently and building a Warp Gate there remained priorities for the Empire, but the difficulty of both tasks meant that those projects remained stalled. In the meantime, the disposable towers had been created. Should one of these constructions be destroyed, the personnel could hide in the sturdy bunkers below and wait for help. Afterwards, they could rebuild the towers rather easily using materials found on the planet. The towers existed as a place for personnel to live aboveground, as well as obvious markers for any incoming transport ships. The need for aboveground lodging was mostly psychological, as many of the soldiers living on the moon would be there for some time, and living belowground for too long would drive many insane.

  General Koronik was one of the strongest fighters on the planet, tasked with keeping things as intact as possible, and it was lucky that he was on hand to avert this attack before any damage could occur. Still, he couldn’t be on hand for everything, and he was concerned about the recent Xenos attacks that the moon’s mining operations had been dealing with. Something had been stirring up the local population, and he suspected he knew what it was. While contemplating the situation, he received an incoming call from one of his subordinates on his Codex. He answered and was greeted with the icy cool voice of Colonel Alexandra Miles: “Sir, one of the men recently found something I think you’ll want to see.”

  She sent him her video, and he saw her holding what appeared to be a pulsating, black sphere. The major continued: “Captain Harburg found it inside the body of one of those camouflaged Xenos we saw the other day.”

  They had made a delivery of 630 to a scheduled fleet of transports that had flown in a few days ago. Since then, they’d realized that the moon’s facilities had been infiltrated by black skinned Xenos with a camouflage ability, clearly non-native to their location. They were relatively weak compared to him, either D or E class, but it wasn’t their strength that disturbed Koronik. It was what he’d read afterward when he’d gone to look up the invaders. These Xenos were clearly Kharnidd, and based on certain reports, he knew what this black sphere meant.

  “Destroy it immediately,” Koronik said curtly, watching as the woman crushed the sphere in her palm easily, but the sight didn’t curb his worries. If the Pioneers had found this single transport sphere, how many others had they not found? How many Xenos infiltrators had slipped past their defenses?

  “Send out distress calls to nearby FOBs and any expeditions in the Sector. Request reinforcements due to a real possibility of imminent attack.”

  Koronik had held off on calling for reinforcements until now, due to the costs and logistics headaches involved with diverting personnel all the way out to the moon. If this were a false alarm, he could be in serious trouble. However, the presence of a Kharnidd transport sphere meant that he could no longer afford to be cautious. He was having Alexandra send out the call to anybody in their area while pulling out his own Vox Box to lodge his request with High Command. His base’s safety should be high on the Empire’s priority list. But what he found when he connected to High Command’s communication channels chilled him to the bone: “Mayday, Mayday, we are under attack! Ordering assistance from available bases at...”

  The person on the other end of the line began rattling off lists of planets surrounding the capital, but Koronik wasn’t listening. He was too busy contemplating this new development. Both his base and High Command were under attack.

  The Kharnidd had made their move.