(A.N: Read the Author's notes please.)1

The command center hung suspended above the crystal spires of Thal'morek Prime, its transparent walls offering a clear view of the planet below, which looked tiny.

Aerial traffic flowed between the towering structures as the twin suns' white light filtered through the atmosphere processors.

Officer Vel'tarin stood in the command room, before the holographic display showing the data about the situation on earth.

The Kytinn officer was using his second pair of arms to check the console, while the first one was tucked behind his back.

Red warning symbols flashed through the display. Lines of urgent text and sensor data scrolled past. They were impossible to ignore given what they were saying.

What was worse was that he would need to fully report the situation to Commander Sho'vas.

The Kytinn woman stepped through the door and sat on the commander's chair. She was older than the officer, and far more accomplished, to the point that her armor was engraved with marks the Kytinn warriors were used to place after each battle.

Those scars were the result of wars and interventions that officer Vel'tarin had only ever read about on books.

The female Kytinn had her four eyes fixed on Vel'tarin, as she was expecting the officers to double-check the data and making sure the report she read was right.

That meant cross-examining a lot of data. Their AI did most of the job, but there were still things that had to be done in person, and unfortunately for him, Vel'tarin was the one meant to do that.

"So? How is the situation?"

Vel'tarin gestured to the display. "Good evening, commander. The situation is as bad as the report stated. It isn't only the urgent one we received from We've received a priority transmission from the Inter-dimensional First Aid Autonomous Thalassari Merchant Morv'axil Xenth, is from a lot of our vendors, even those from our Kytinn race."

"I read the report. Isn't he stationed on the developing world designated Terra-3, in sector 7-Alpha?"

"He is, commander."

Sho'vas moved to the display, her eyes skimming the data she received. "What warrants priority status? An anomaly certainly isn't something rare."

"Unfortunately, this anomaly has shown unprecedented growth rate." Vel'tarin pulled up the relevant section. "This is not the only problem. It looks like he is already spreading his influence through the planet, and he already has a following."

"Threat assessment?"

"Level two hundred and fifty, based on the report."

Sho'vas went still. The kind of stillness that preceded violence or command decisions of equal weight.

"Two hundred and fifty. Are you sure about this? Certainly the trader is messing with us, right? This is too much for an anomaly. Less than six months have passed since the Last Will Framework activated on Terra-3, and a being that should have appeared in 5 years is already here?"

"Morv'axil Xenth confirmed it personally, and other merchants made reports that seems to convalidate the report. The anomaly calls itself the Progenitor. It's been converting the native population through ideological manipulation combined with displays of power that the natives interpret as divine intervention."

"Fantastic, we just needed zealots. Not that they are rare." Sho'vas paused. "How many had already converted?"

"Estimates suggest fifteen percent of the survivor population in the affected region. The number grows daily."

Vel'tarin expanded the report to show Morv'axil's detailed observations. The commander already read them, but with the reports made by the other merchants, those claims seemed to take on a different level of seriousness.

"The Progenitor has established a base of operations, we don't know where, but it is in the Velia region, Mervion country, Entropean continent. He's gathering followers and resources for what we believe be increase the mana saturation in the region. We all know what this means…"

Sho'vas's mandibles clicked together, a sound Vel'tarin had learned meant deep concern. She paused. "This fucker wants to increase the mana saturation so that he will gain strength faster."

"That's what we believe. The problem is that this will also affect the local monster population. This is like on Xylos."

"Commander?" Xylos was a planet where the Last Will Framework failed to save the natives. It was a bad, ugly affair that resulted in the extinction of Xylos's native population, and the loss of millions of soldiers from the Allied worlds.

"You're too young to remember the Xylos Incursion. A developing world in similar circumstances as the one of Terra-3. A single corrupted native reached level two hundred before we intervened."

Her eyes never left the display. "By the time our forces intervened, that thing was already at level 800. 56% of the population had been killed, while around 86% of the ones alive had turned into corrupted. The planet became uninhabitable after the various corrupted factions completely lost their minds and waged war on each other. It was a complete loss that brought to mass extintion on the planet."

Vel'tarin couldn't believe that. "Just because of one anomaly?"

"Yes. An anomaly is able to kill, torture, and enslave. A little show of power can make many think that renouncing the system is a good idea. Those who oppose them are simply rooted out."

"Do you think the situation will be the same?"

"Worse." Sho'vas pulled up Earth's population data. "Xylos had three billion pre-Cataclysm inhabitants. Terra-3 had nearly eight billion. If corruption spreads at comparable rates..." She let the implication hang.

"What are our options?"

Sho'vas manipulated the display, bringing up fleet assignments and military assets.

"Standard containment protocols are insufficient. First Aid Autonomous Merchants aren't equipped for combat operations against corruption of this magnitude. The local population lacks both the level and coordination to mount effective resistance."

She paused, studying something in the data that made her mandibles click again. "There's a native here. Reidar Miller. Level seventy-one. Morv'axil flagged him as a potential asset."

"One individual against level two hundred and fifty corrupted doesn't look like much." Vel'tarin couldn't keep the skepticism from his voice.

"One individual with a rare trait that allows exponential force multiplication through allies." Sho'vas expanded Reidar's profile. "Altough he is focused on using them on summoned creatures, as much as I'm seeing here."

She paused. "Morv'axil believes he's the only native with a realistic chance of disrupting the Progenitor's operations long enough for proper intervention."

"Even so, Commander, the level disparity—"

"I'm aware." Sho'vas closed the profile and turned to face him. "Which is why I'm authorizing immediate deployment of eight legions from the Aegis Phalanx."

Vel'tarin's jaw almost dropped to the floor. The Aegis Phalanx. These were elite forces drawn from a dozen allied worlds, mostly Kytinn, trained relentlessly for corruption suppression.

They were deployed perhaps once every fifty cycles, and only when conventional forces had proven inadequate.

"Commander, with respect, isn't that an overreaction? The Phalanx is—"

"The only appropriate response." Sho'vas's paused, so that her officer could understand better.

"Listen carefully, Officer. When a corrupted reaches level two hundred and fifty, the statistical survival rate for the native species drops below one percent. Below one percent, officer Vel'tarin. usually they would have decades to develop countermeasures and defensive infrastructure to fight such a monster, but it is not the case here."

She gestured to Earth's timeline. "This world has had less than six months since the Cataclysm. Their survivors are scattered, traumatized, and desperately under-leveled. The Progenitor is converting its strongest fighters and most organized settlements. Without intervention, Earth will fall completely within a year. Maybe less."

"Can the Aegis Phalanx really stop that? They're not exactly low-level. Won't they just overpower everything and block the locals from gaining strength? If that happens our forces won't be enough."

"The Aegis Phalanx can give them a chance." Sho'vas pulled up deployment orders. "They'll establish a secure foothold, provide tactical support to viable resistance elements, and engage corrupted forces directly to create a better environment by keeping the monster population in check. Their mission parameters will be simple: contain the Progenitor, eliminate his infrastructure, and stabilize the region long enough for Earth's natives to develop their own defenses."

Vel'tarin watched as Commander Sho'vas gave the orders, and how those propagated through their network. Fleet assignments were updated. Supply chains were configured. Personnel rosters highlighted in priority red. The machinery of the Allied worlds' military structure shifted into motion.

"How long until deployment?"

"Seventy-two hours for full mobilization." Vel'tarin examined the tactical projections. "The portal array needs recalibration for long-range teleportation. We'll be sending them in blind, with no established beachhead and no local support infrastructure. They'll have to secure their own landing zone against whatever creature is there."

"What can oppose level 350 to 600 soldiers?"

"Commander, we have rececived reports that portals are open on the planet already."

"Portals? Fuck… This is even worse than on Xylos…"

Commander Sho'vas grimaced. "If Rift-Sprites are on the planet, then the humans are thoroughly fucked up."

Portals meant that creatures from other planets, who likely had decades to fight and increase their level, reached Terra-3, Earth. The Rift-sprites were some of these creatures, although they were weak and seldom high-level. But there weren't just weak-ass creatures on those planets, but also monsters that devoured countless creatures in other worlds. If portals were open, it meant the Aegis Phalanx was going to have a bad time.

"Everything about this situation is an anomaly." Sho'vas met her officer's gaze. "But the alternative is watching another world die. I've seen it countless times. I won't see it again if intervention is possible."

She turned back to the display, pulling up Earth's geographic data. "The Phalanx will insert here,"—she marked a location—"to establish a forward operating base within forty-eight hours of arrival. They will then spread to regions and countries."

"And the native? Reidar Miller?"

"We will brief him when appropriate, for now just provide him growth opportunities, but try to be as wide as possible, ask the system's managers to issue better quests. The Phalanx's arrival will be obvious; you can't hide that kind of military presence from anyone paying attention. Better he learns through official channels than through panic and rumor."

Sho'vas gave some other orders. Somewhere in the fleet command network, alarms had already sounded. Officers were being recalled from leave. Ships were being prepped for long-range insertion. The Aegis Phalanx was moving.

"Dismissed, Officer. Keep me informed. If the situation deteriorates, I want to know immediately."

Vel'tarin snapped off a crisp salute and left the command center. Sho'vas stayed behind, silent. She watched Earth turn in the holo-display. It was blue, green, swirling with clouds. It was pretty planet. Too pretty to burn like Xylos did. Too alive to let slip into chaos. Her claws tapped once against the console. Enough. She'd seen one world die. That was enough for a lifetime.

She wouldn't see it happen again.

Hello everyone! Today some stuff happened, so i will upload one chapter today, rather than three. This chapter is 1806 words long, so its almost two chapters. I apologize for this, but today and tomorrow things will be a little hectic for me. I will upload another long chapter or two, based on the word count of the chapters I already have prepared. Starting from the 22th things will go back to normal, and three chapters will be released. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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