By direct order of Commander Rhazen, Recon Team Theta was deployed beyond the borders of Aeterna, into the vast, uncharted wilderness stretching far beyond the capital city's reach.
Lieutenant Mara, a veteran exo-trooper known for her calm precision and razor instincts, led a team of six elite soldiers—all hardened veterans from Helios's internal campaigns and peacekeeping operations. Flanking them were a squadron of sleek recon drones, programmed for low-altitude scans and thermal sweeps.
Their mission was simple—but critical:Chart the land. Search for intelligent life. Identify food sources.Aeterna had abundant supplies… but abundance meant nothing during a long-term crisis.
For three days, they carved a path through an untouched world. The forest was wild, lush, and alive with things no Helian databank had ever recorded—thick vines hung like serpent coils, and trees towered higher than mag-towers. It was beautiful.
And maddening.
"No tactical map," grumbled Derren, flicking at his unresponsive HUD. "No uplink. No signal. Where the hell are our satellites?"
"Same here," said Selin, shaking her head. "We're basically blind in 360-degree terrain."
"They were supposed to be watching from orbit," muttered another. "Where the hell is our sky support?"
"They're gone," Lt. Mara said bluntly. "So we go old school. Manual logging. Trees. Water. Terrain patterns. Mark everything. No complaints."
They got to work, tagging coordinates on analog pads and wrist-logs. The drones helped, but without orbital support, their reach was frustratingly limited. And the deeper they ventured, the worse the interference became.
Day Four. Nightfall.
Frustration finally boiled over.
"This is a damn jungle," Derren muttered during the evening briefing. "Twenty-two klicks covered. All we've got is moss, bugs, and trees that breathe."
He glared at a bizarre fungus near his boot.
"And this mushroom has teeth. Teeth. Is this even edible?!"
CRACK.
Everyone froze.
"I heard that," Mara said quietly, eyes sharp. "Movement. Right flank."
The forest hushed. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
No visual. No thermal. HUDs showed nothing.
But something had moved.
And watched.
Then it was gone.
Dawn. The Next Morning.
Camp was broken in silence. They had barely packed when the drones picked up it—movement. Fast. Warm. Close.
"Contact—twelve o'clock, closing fast!"
From the misty treeline came monsters: hulking beasts of fur, fangs, and fury. Dire wolves, each nearly three meters long. Their eyes glowed. Their fangs dripped.
One leapt, jaws wide, and tore a drone from the sky with a single snap.
The second went straight for Selin.
"AMBUSH!" Mara roared. "Circle formation! Suppression fire!"
The forest exploded with gunfire.
Pulse rifles lit up the air as the squad fell into formation. A soldier screamed—his leg caught by a wolf's claws. Blood sprayed as he went down.
"MEDIC! MEDIC! FUCK!!"
Another soldier jabbed a stun lance into a wolf's skull.
It didn't stop.
"They don't flinch!" Mara shouted. "Target the vitals—eyes, joints!"
She drew her sidearm and fired into the eye of one mid-leap. Another drone detonated in a flash of fire as it tackled a wolf into a proximity mine.
"GRENADE!!" she barked, hurling one straight into the pack.
The explosion painted the trees red.
"KEEP FIRING!" Derren screamed.
Ten minutes of chaos.
Then... silence.
Only one wolf remained. Wounded. Growling.
It turned and vanished into the woods.
"Casualty report," Mara ordered coldly.
"One dead. Two wounded," Selin replied. "We're patching them up now."
Derren muttered under his breath, still gripping his rifle. "This place is a death trap."
Mara knelt beside a wolf's corpse. She ran a hand over its hide.
Thick. Armored. Almost unnatural.
"This isn't normal wildlife," she whispered. "We follow that thing. I want to know where it's going."
They broke formation immediately, the wounded left behind with escort drones transmitting live feeds to Commander Rhazen for evac coordination.
Meanwhile. South Edge of the Forest.
A moss-covered glade. A narrow dirt path. A small merchant caravan rolled carefully forward, wheels creaking, horses snorting in unease.
The trees here were dense. Too dense. No wind. No birds.
"Master Harlowe... are you sure this is still the way?" asked Yana, a young woman seated beside the caravan's driver.
Her voice trembled.
"I—I think so," the merchant muttered. Harlowe was in his late forties, silver in his beard and a permanent frown carved into his face. "We've used this route five seasons now. But today… it feels cursed."
They had no idea that tremor they'd felt earlier wasn't an earthquake. It was actually the Transmigration of Nation of Helios.
The forest rumbled. Then came the low growl.
Out from the dark—bloodied, limping, and wild with pain—emerged the injured dire wolf. One eye destroyed, its rage unbroken.
"By the gods..." Harlowe gasped. "Yana, behind me!"
Four mercenaries dismounted, blades drawn.
The first charged—his curved sword barely scratched the wolf's fur.
It retaliated with bone-crushing force, clamping onto the man's arm and tossing him aside like a broken toy.
Another lunged. His blade snapped cleanly against the beast's hide.
The dire wolf ripped through the guards—throat, spine, limb.
Steel clanged. Arrows missed.
Yana screamed.
Harlowe shoved her behind a crate.
"Stay down! Don't move!"
The wolf turned to them, jaws open, ready to strike—
BLINDING FLASH.
Back in the forest.
Lt. Mara's HUD pinged.
"Heat signature—northeast!"
"And screaming. Female!" Selin added.
"MOVE!" Mara shouted. "Full boost! Intercept!"
Thrusters roared to life as the recon team bolted through the woods, bounding over roots, weaving under branches, their suits pulsing with kinetic energy.
They arrived minutes later—and froze at the scene.
Blood. Everywhere.
A wagon in ruins. Mercenary bodies strewn like broken dolls. One headless. Another pinned to a shattered wheel.
And there it was—the wounded dire wolf it wass still alive. But crouched behind the wreckage—two survivors.
"Engage the target!" Mara ordered without hesitation.
Selin and Derren dropped to their knees, rifles raised.
Blaster bolts screamed into the wolf's side. It roared—but didn't fall.
"It's still coming!" Derren yelled.
"Suppressive fire—NOW!"
The air lit with pulse rounds.
The wolf staggered forward, jaws open.
But Mara charged in—shoulder-first.
Her armor slammed into the beast, knocking it off balance.
"Light it up!!"
Selin fired her grenade launcher.
The explosion hurled the wolf backward into the treeline, tearing flesh, splintering bone.
It didn't get up.
Smoke curled through the grass.
It was over.
Mara approached the survivors slowly.
Yana was shaking. Pale. Barely breathing.
Harlowe stood in front of her, wounded but alive.
"You're… not from around here," he said, staring at the high-tech armor and glowing visors.
"No," Mara replied, lowering her weapon slightly. "But we might be the reason you're still breathing."
She glanced back at the burning wreckage behind them.
"…Thank you," Yana whispered—and then collapsed in Mara's arms.