The UFSS Endeavor dropped out of warp into orbit above New Eden. Commander Stryker Foxx stood on the bridge, hands clasped behind him, gazing at the lush planet below. Continents of emerald forest and turquoise seas glimmered peacefully, yet tension coiled in Stryker’s chest.

It had been years since he’d approached a Concordance hive colony. During the war, many in the UFSC had harbored mistrust of telepathic collectives. But New Eden had remained neutral and was now offering help. We’re here as allies, Stryker reminded himself, pushing aside old prejudices. They needed answers about the mysterious threat called the “Xed.”

“Entering atmosphere now, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Julia Andrews reported from the helm. Stryker noted the slight tightness in her voice. Julia was a seasoned officer, but the prospect of meeting a telepathic society had her on edge.

“Steady as she goes,” Stryker said calmly. He turned to his science officer. “Alexis, ready to brief their elders?”

Lieutenant Commander Alexis Weiss nodded. “Yes, sir. I have our questions prepared—especially regarding any unusual disappearances. If anyone has data on this ‘Xed,’ the hive’s info-network will.”

Through the viewport, the capital city of Unity spread out below—a harmonious blend of white-and-gold structures and verdant greenery. It looked less constructed than grown. Towering trees wove through domed halls and slender sky-bridges, and waterways glinted in the sunlight. The city’s organic beauty left the bridge crew momentarily awed.

Julia guided the Endeavor to a gentle landing on a mossy platform at the city’s edge. “Landing complete,” she said, pulling herself back to professional focus.

Stryker rose. “Alright, team. Remember: we’re guests here. Keep an open mind and show respect.” He glanced at each of his crew: Julia at operations, Alexis at science, and Lieutenant Commander Ayame Tsukihara, his chief engineer, who was already craning to glimpse the world outside. They all nodded, curiosity and nerves mingling on their faces.

“Let’s go,” Stryker said, and led them down the lowering ramp.

Warm, floral-scented air washed over them as they stepped onto the platform’s living carpet of moss. Stryker inhaled deeply—the atmosphere felt alive and sweet, a stark contrast to the sterile ship air.

At the base of the ramp awaited a welcoming party of four hive citizens clad in flowing white garments threaded with gold. Each wore a slender metal circlet at their temple glowing with soft blue light—likely their neural interface. They stood with uncanny stillness, eyes bright with intelligence.

One woman stepped forward, her dark hair braided and amber eyes warm. “Commander Stryker Foxx,” she said, placing a hand over her heart in greeting. “Welcome to New Eden. We are honored by your visit.”

Stryker inclined his head respectfully. “Thank you. We appreciate the Concordance receiving us in these troubled times.”

“…troubled times indeed,” added a tall man beside her, seamlessly finishing her sentence. Stryker suppressed a start; the two of them spoke almost as one. “We felt the urgency in your message and in the recent disturbances across the stars.”

Julia stiffened subtly at Stryker’s side. Hearing different individuals share one thought was disconcerting. Stryker sensed her instinctive unease, but he maintained a cordial smile.

The first woman continued, voice melodious and calm. “I am Kirra, facilitator of our council.” She gestured to the man beside her. “This is Mateo, our historian.” With gentle pride, she introduced the others: a younger man and a teenaged girl. “Elias, our technologist. And Talia, an archivist-in-training with a talent for threading memory.”

Each hive member nodded in unison. The girl, Talia, gave a small, shy wave, though Stryker suspected nothing in a hive was truly done in isolation.

Remembering his manners, Stryker introduced his own team. “Lieutenant Commander Alexis Weiss, our science officer. Lieutenant Commander Julia Andrews, communications and ops. And Lieutenant Commander Ayame Tsukihara, chief engineer.” His crew nodded in turn—Alexis with a polite smile, Ayame with an energetic dip of her head, and Julia maintaining measured respect despite the wary tightness in her posture.

Kirra’s amber eyes seemed to take in not just the individuals but the group as a whole. “Thank you for coming. We have prepared a space in our Hall of Unity where we can share information safely and comfortably.”

Mateo extended his arm toward a nearby archway of intertwining branches. “Please, follow us. You must have many questions—we will do our best to answer together.”

The four Concordance envoys turned in graceful synchronization and led the way along a garden path. Stryker and his crew fell in step behind. As they walked, he couldn’t help marveling at the city around them: translucent walkways curved between enormous, ancient trees whose roots formed natural tunnels. Buildings of smooth white material rose organically from the earth, their walls adorned with living vines and blooming flowers. Small drone-like devices flitted by overhead, tending to hanging gardens or carrying baskets of fruit. The usual bustle and noise of a city were absent; Unity was tranquil but for the murmuring breeze and distant trickle of water.

“It’s so quiet,” Julia whispered under her breath. Indeed, though dozens of people moved in the distance—tending crops in a sun-dappled field nearby, or walking across a bridge arch—there was hardly any audible conversation.

Alexis leaned toward Julia, speaking softly. “They don’t need to talk out loud as much. Most of their communication is happening in the shared mind-link.”

Julia swallowed and offered a stiff nod. Stryker noted the way she adjusted her uniform and kept her eyes forward—she was uncomfortable, but determined not to show disrespect. He gave her a brief, encouraging look.

Kirra glanced back as if sensing their unease. She offered a kindly smile. “You find our ways strange, I know. I remember what it was like before joining the collective—speaking with only one voice.” Her tone was gentle and empathetic. “Please, be at ease. We understand this is new for you. Ask us anything, and we will answer as we—” she caught herself with a light laugh, “—as best as I can.”

Stryker felt some of the tension in his shoulders ease. Kirra’s considerate effort to bridge the gap wasn’t lost on him. “Thank you, Facilitator. Your patience is appreciated. This is a first for many of us.”

Mateo nodded, walking just ahead. “It is a first for us as well, Captain. We haven’t hosted an official UFSC crew here before. Perhaps today marks a new understanding.”

They arrived at a broad plaza dominated by a single majestic tree whose canopy spread like a green dome overhead. Beneath its thick boughs sat a circular building of white stone and glass that appeared almost grown from the tree’s roots. Soft pulses of bluish light shimmered along the structure’s perimeter in gentle waves.

“This is our Hall of Unity,” Elias explained, his voice almost reverent. Two unarmed hive guardians stood at the arched entrance. They wore subtle armor that resembled woven bark and metal, and they inclined their heads to Kirra’s group and the visitors as everyone entered.

Inside, the hall was cool and dim. The enormous trunk of the ancient tree rose through an open skylight at the center, its leaves filtering in golden afternoon light that dappled the floor. Curved benches and consoles ringed the room in concentric circles. The atmosphere felt part cathedral, part high-tech forum—quiet and awash in the faint hum of hidden machinery and neural uplinks.

Stryker removed his uniform cap as a sign of respect and tucked it under his arm. Alexis’s eyes roamed the space, widening at the sight of glowing data panels integrated into living wood. Ayame let out a low whistle of admiration for the architecture. Julia remained close to Stryker, ever vigilant, though even she gazed upward at the spiral of sunlight with a trace of wonder.

“Please, make yourselves comfortable,” Kirra said, gesturing to a semi-circular table grown from intertwining roots at the center of the hall. Everyone took their seats—Stryker and his crew on one side, the Concordance delegation on the other.

Mateo folded his hands on the table. “We received your communication. You are investigating a string of mysterious attacks and a name: ‘Xed.’” His expression was grave. “Tell us what you know, and we will consult the Concordance’s memory for anything that might be relevant.”

Stryker exchanged a glance with Alexis. She took a breath and leaned forward, professional focus overcoming her earlier awe. “Over the past several weeks, multiple remote facilities have gone dark or been destroyed under alarming circumstances,” she began. “One was a deep-space UFSC research outpost we surveyed. Another was an independent genetics lab. In each case, there were signs of an attack—advanced weapons usage, and the disappearance of all personnel.”

Alexis’s face tightened as she continued. “At our outpost, the only clue was a fragment of a distress recording. In it, a researcher, just before… whatever happened, said the word ‘Xed.’” Alexis glanced between Kirra and Mateo. “It’s not a word or code we recognize. We hoped your collective knowledge might have records of it, or patterns of incidents like these.”

At the mention of “Xed,” the Concordance elders exchanged looks. Kirra’s eyes unfocused slightly, and Stryker noticed the glowing circlet at her temple brighten. Beside her, Mateo, Elias, and Talia similarly grew still and distant for a moment. Stryker realized they were querying their neural network collectively, searching their shared memory across who-knew-how-many minds and data-nodes.

After a few heartbeats, Kirra’s gaze cleared. She shook her head slowly. “The term ‘Xed’ does not appear in any of our historical archives or lexicons.”

Stryker felt a flicker of disappointment, but Mateo held up a hand, his brow furrowed. “However… we too have felt ripples of something strange. One of our remote observatory outposts went silent two weeks ago.” He exchanged a troubled glance with Kirra. “Dozens of hive-linked scientists were stationed there. In the span of a breath, we felt all their voices cry out… and then go dark.”

Mateo’s voice quavered with the remembered pain of it. Kirra placed a comforting hand over his. “We dispatched a ship to investigate. They found the station intact but deserted. No crew, no signs of struggle—just gone.” Her lips pressed into a thin line. “At the time, we feared a catastrophic accident that perhaps vented the atmosphere… though that was odd, because backup systems should have preserved them. Now, hearing your story…” She didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication was clear.

Stryker leaned forward, arms on the table. “It sounds very similar to what we’ve seen. Isolated, advanced facilities. No survivors. Unusual circumstances.” He took a measured breath. “Whatever or whoever the Xed are, they’re leaving very few traces. That’s why we came to you—your people share information faster than anyone. If there’s a pattern to be found, we’re hoping the Concordance can help find it.”

Elias, the technologist, gave a determined nod. “We can certainly try. Our collective memory spans many worlds. If knowledge of these events exists, it will be among our data.” He stood and moved to a curved console adjacent to the table. With a wave of his hand, he brought up a holographic interface shimmering in the air. “We can search incident reports, sensor logs, anything across our network that might mention attacks or disappearances.”

Ayame stood as well, instinctively drawn to the technology. “If there’s any way for us to assist in that search, we’re ready,” she offered. Alexis was already rising beside her. Neither could hide their eagerness—this was exactly the collaboration they’d hoped for.

Kirra regarded them thoughtfully. “It is possible for you to interface briefly with our archive,” she said. “We have secure partitions for external access. Talia,” she nodded to the younger woman, “perhaps you could guide them? You’re one of our finest memory threaders.”

Talia straightened, clearly surprised but willing. “Of course. I can bring them into a shallow link—enough to sift data but not intrusive.” She looked between Alexis and Ayame. “Only if you’re comfortable, of course.”

Alexis exchanged a quick look with Stryker, who gave her an encouraging nod. The prospect of touching the hive-mind, even in a limited way, was daunting yet exhilarating. “We’re willing,” Alexis affirmed. Ayame grinned and rolled up her sleeves. “Absolutely. Show me where to plug in.”

Julia spoke up from her seat, unable to hide her concern. “Captain… are we sure about this?” As an operations officer—and a friend—she felt compelled to voice what protocol and instinct screamed: linking minds with an unknown system carried risks.

Stryker met her eyes. He understood her hesitation, even appreciated it, but time was precious. “Noted, Commander.” He kept his tone reassuring. “Alexis and Ayame will be okay. This is why we came.”

Julia pursed her lips but fell silent, trusting his judgment.

Talia led Alexis and Ayame a few steps away to a low circular console encircling the base of the great tree. Three slots in the console glowed softly. “Place your hands here,” Talia instructed gently. “The interface will sync with your neural signals. It might feel strange at first, but I’ll be right here with you, filtering the flow.”

Alexis wiped her palms on her uniform pants, then laid her right hand on the indicated pad. Ayame did the same. Talia closed her eyes, resting her fingertips on a central node between them. The lights on their circlets and the console brightened in unison.

A cool tingling sensation spread through Alexis’s fingers, then up her arm. She inhaled sharply as a cascade of information flooded her mind. For an instant she felt disoriented, as if plunging into a vast ocean of whispers and images.

Her eyes remained open, but she barely saw the hall around her. Instead, she felt Talia’s presence guiding her like a steady hand through rushing currents. Ayame’s consciousness was there too—a spark of exhilaration and awe that mirrored Alexis’s own. The hive’s collective memory stretched around them, immense and humming with life.

Flashes of relevant data flickered before Alexis’s inner eye. She saw a map of stars with red markers popping up: reports of incidents in far-flung places. A Concordance science vessel’s log mentioning an anomalous energy burst on the day their observatory went silent. Fragmented camera footage from a devastated lab on a barren moon—equipment overturned, strange scorch marks on the walls.

Alexis’s heart pounded. These incidents were indeed part of a larger pattern. Through Talia’s link, she could cross-reference details at the speed of thought. Each memory thread the hive had—official reports, anecdotal mentions, sensor readings—wove together into a tapestry.

Genetic research outpost, vanished. Cybernetics facility, staff missing. Neural implant developer, data servers wiped clean. Alexis sensed each case resonating with the others, forming a dark constellation of attacks. And always at highly specialized sites.

Ayame’s astonished mental whisper echoed through the link, They’re targeting advanced human tech…

Human evolution itself, Alexis thought back, realizing it more clearly with each connection. They’re collecting everything that makes us special. She couldn’t tell if the thought was hers alone or shared, but she felt Talia’s dismay affirm it.

Then a final piece surfaced: an audio fragment that sent a jolt through them all. A garbled transmission, caught by a distant relay during one attack. Faint voices speaking in unison: “…we are the Xed.” The words carried an odd resonance, as if many throats spoke the same phrase. It was triumphant. And chillingly human.

Alexis gasped, and just like that, she tore her hand back from the console, breaking the connection. Ayame staggered and caught herself against the tree trunk, eyes wide. Talia stepped back, withdrawing gently from their minds.

For a moment, none of them spoke. Alexis realized her cheeks were wet—she’d been crying unconsciously, overwhelmed by the flood of communal emotion and the horror of what they’d pieced together. Ayame scrubbed a tear from her own cheek, chest heaving with a deep breath. “That… that was incredible,” Ayame managed, giving a shaky half-smile to lighten the mood. “Intense, but incredible.”

Stryker was at Alexis’s side in an instant, steadying her by the shoulders. “Easy,” he said softly. His face was etched with concern. Julia hovered just behind him, her hand on her sidearm as if half-expecting something to have gone wrong.

“We’re okay,” Alexis assured them quickly, finding her balance. Her voice quivered with excitement and dread. “And we have answers.” She turned to Kirra and the others, who were watching with anxious curiosity. “It’s all connected. The Xed have been hitting advanced research and development sites all across human space.”

Ayame nodded vigorously. “Genetics labs, cybernetics facilities, neural implant factories—if people are pushing the limits of human evolution there, those places have been targeted.”

A troubled silence fell over the hall. Kirra slowly sank into her seat, absorbing the revelation that came from her own network’s knowledge. “They’re… harvesting our progress,” she murmured, looking at Mateo. He grimly finished the thought: “Gathering the fruits of every branch of humanity. For what purpose, we can only imagine.”

Julia frowned. “And the name? Did you find out who or what ‘Xed’ is?” She exchanged a glance with Stryker. This was the piece that gnawed at all of them—the enemy still in the shadows.

Alexis pressed a hand to her temple, still hearing the echo of those unified voices. “We heard them, briefly.” She shivered. “They call themselves the Xed. It didn’t sound like aliens speaking… it was human voices merged together. Twisted, but human.”

A heavy weight settled in Stryker’s gut. He’d suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed was sobering. His grey eyes hardened. “So we’re dealing with people—enhanced and engineered, but people nonetheless. Using our own technologies against us.”

“The worst kind of enemy,” Mateo said quietly. “One who knows how we think… because they are us.”

Before anyone could respond, a shrill alarm suddenly rang out—a high, mind-piercing whine that reverberated through the hall. The holographic lights around the tree flickered wildly. All at once, Kirra and the other Concordance members winced and doubled over, gasping in pain.

Talia cried out and clutched her head. “The link—!” she managed to say before a sob of agony cut her off. Stryker saw the hive circlets on their temples sputtering with static. Some kind of sonic blast or electromagnetic pulse was shredding the neural connection they all shared.

“Ambush!” Julia barked, drawing her pistol even though she couldn’t yet see a threat. Stryker whirled just in time to glimpse a distortion at the edge of the chamber—like a heat mirage, moving fast.

A figure in shimmering adaptive camouflage materialized near one of the hall’s arched entrances. In his hand was a sleek device emitting that awful keening sound. The disruptor, Stryker realized. The intruder had fired a neural disruptor to cripple the hive’s collective sense. And it was working—Kirra and her people were effectively blinded and disoriented, cut off from each other mid-thought.

The attacker tossed aside the spent disruptor and, in one fluid motion, unsheathed a blade from his forearm. A humming monomolecular sword gleamed into view. With unnerving speed, he lunged straight for Julia, who stood closest.

“Julia, down!” Stryker shouted, already moving. Julia had reflexes of her own—she ducked in the nick of time. The ultra-sharp blade sliced clean through the air where her neck had been, shearing off a lock of her brown hair. Julia hit the ground in a controlled roll and came up on one knee, pistol raised.

Before she could fire, two more intruders flickered into visibility at the opposite side of the hall. One was an enormous brute of a man, nearly eight feet tall, with arms that glinted metallic under pale synthetic skin. The other clung to the wall above the main doorway like some nightmarish insect, limbs splayed impossibly wide. He had camo-cloak panels draped from his lean body and bracers that bristled with claw-like protrusions anchoring him to the wooden beams.

In an instant, the tranquil hall became a battleground.

The brute let out a guttural shout and leveled a heavy weapon that he’d carried on his back—a portable laser cutter repurposed as a gun. A searing red beam lanced across the room, scoring a molten line through the curved table and scattering glowing embers of wood and circuitry. Ayame yelped and dragged a still-dazed Talia down behind a bench as flaming splinters showered around them.

Stryker’s sidearm was in his hand now. He aimed at the sword-wielder charging toward Julia and squeezed off two quick shots. The blue stun bolts struck the attacker’s torso, briefly flaring against an invisible energy shield. The man staggered but kept coming, seemingly unharmed.

Julia fired as well, her beam searing a blackened streak across the sword-man’s shoulder. He snarled—an oddly layered sound, like two voices growling in unison—and pressed forward.

Stryker moved to intercept, meeting the sword-wielding intruder with a crushing right hook just as he reached Julia. His fist connected with the attacker’s side, producing a metallic thud. The man was knocked off-stride, but far from incapacitated. With frightening agility, the intruder recovered and slashed at Stryker in a sweeping arc.

Stryker jerked back. The monomolecular blade whooshed a hairsbreadth from his chest, close enough that he felt the faint buzz of its energy. He caught a glimpse of the intruder’s face—a pallid visage lattice-crossed with subdermal implants—and felt a jarring flash of memory from the war: the blank eyes of failed supersoldier experiments, the horrors humanity had engineered in secret. A surge of cold fury steadied his nerves. Enhanced reflexes or not, he realized he was outmatched unarmed against a foe who might be as augmented as he was—plus wielding a lethal blade.

Across the hall, the brute intruder was stomping toward the central data core—a pillar of crystalline memory banks entwined with living tree roots. One of the Concordance guards, half-stunned from the disruptor blast, staggered into the doorway. He raised a rifle and fired blue stun pulses desperately at the hulking assailant. A few shots hit squarely, making the brute grunt, but he shrugged off the impact and kept moving, red eyes fixed on his prize.

Above them, the insect-like attacker scuttled along the rafters toward the same goal. With the hive-mind scrambled, the attackers moved in practiced, wordless coordination. Alexis, kneeling behind an overturned bench, realized what they intended. “They’re after the data core!” she shouted to be heard over the din.

Gritting her teeth against the lingering headache from the disruptor, Alexis propped her arm on the bench and took aim at the climber on the wall. She fired two bursts. One bolt grazed the intruder’s thigh. The camo-cloaked figure yelped—an unmistakably human sound—and lost his grip. In a tatter of flickering light, he tumbled from the wall, landing atop one of the consoles with a crash of sparking electronics.

Ayame seized the moment. Clutching a broken chair leg as an improvised club, she bounded over a row of seats and swung with all her might at the downed intruder. He was half visible, camouflage unit malfunctioning and sputtering, trying to rise. Ayame’s swing caught him across the back, eliciting a sharp crack and a howl of pain. The intruder flailed, one cloaked arm knocking Ayame backward. But as he tried to stand, the Concordance guard by the door lined up a careful shot and hit the attacker with a stun blast at close range. The lithe intruder convulsed and collapsed, finally still.

Meanwhile, Stryker’s mind raced. They had to end this quickly—before the attackers could steal or destroy the hive’s precious data, and before any more lives were endangered. The sword-wielder was still between him and Julia, lashing out with a whirlwind of strikes that kept Stryker at bay. Even with his Valiant reflexes, Stryker knew one slip could mean a fatal cut.

His gaze flickered toward the open skylight overhead, through which he could see a sliver of blue sky. The shuttle… Yes! Their shuttle and his gear were right outside on the landing pad.

“Execute Knight protocol!” Stryker shouted into his comm, hoping the ship’s AI was alert. It was the coded command to deploy his ExCal armor to his location. He only needed to buy a few seconds.

The intruder with the monomolecular sword showed no intention of giving him that time. He lunged again. Stryker parried with his pistol—metal screeched as the blade sliced his sidearm clean in half. Undeterred, Stryker hurled the sparking remains at the man’s face. The attacker dodged fluidly, but it gave Stryker a precious heartbeat to throw himself backward, creating a few meters’ distance.

Above, a high-pitched whistle cut through the air—growing rapidly louder. Through the broken skylight, something came hurtling down: a dark metal pod trailing jets of white flame. The ExCal armor, answering its master’s call.

The pod crashed through the canopy of leaves, right into the Hall of Unity with a heavy thud that shook the floor. Petals and leaves rained down. In the middle of the hall, the pod’s panels blew off, revealing the imposing figure of the ExCal Acceleration Armor unfolding to full height.

For a split second, everyone—attackers and defenders alike—paused at the sudden arrival of the steel giant. Stryker didn’t waste the opportunity. He dashed toward the suit as its chest cavity opened. In one practiced leap, he slid into place. The armor clamped around him, syncing with a comforting series of hisses and clicks. Stryker felt the familiar surge of power as the neural link engaged and the HUD lit up across his vision.

A distorted shout went up from the brute. Recognizing the new threat, the huge intruder swung his laser-cutter around to fire at Stryker’s now-armored form. Too slow. Stryker triggered the ExCal’s jump-jets and launched himself forward in a blur.

He smashed into the brute like a cannonball. The impact sent a shockwave through the hall’s floor. The intruder’s weapon discharged wildly into the air, carving a molten line across the ceiling as he was driven backward.

Stryker followed up with a crushing armored punch to the brute’s midsection. He felt metal and bone give way under the blow. The massive man coughed blood and crumpled to his knees, cybernetic arms dangling. One more gauntleted strike to the head, and the brute went down with a heavy thud, unconscious or worse.

Only the sword-wielder remained—and he finally faltered. With his two comrades neutralized and an armored supersoldier now bearing down on him, the man took a step back. Stryker turned, steel footfalls thudding, and fixed the intruder in his visor’s sights.

The attacker’s eyes darted around desperately. Just behind him lay the fallen disruptor device. Instead of attacking, he dove for it. Snatching a small disc-like object from the side of the disruptor, he slammed it against his chest.

“Don’t let him escape!” Julia cried out, scrambling to her feet. She and Alexis both raised their weapons to fire—but it was too late. The intruder’s form blurred, enveloped by a crackling aura of light. With a sharp crack and a whoosh of displaced air, the man vanished entirely. A lingering haze of energy twinkled and then faded where he had stood.

Stryker’s jaw clenched inside his helmet. His suit’s sensors caught a brief spike of quantum particles. A micro-jump device—small enough to carry. The man had essentially teleported away.

For a moment, the only sounds were the ragged panting of exertion and the crackle of a small fire burning in a shattered console. Stryker scanned the hall. One intruder gone. The other two lay motionless amid the wreckage. The hive citizens were wounded and shaken, but alive. Gradually, the shimmering lights along the walls steadied, suggesting the neural disruption was fading and their link was slowly re-establishing.

He breathed out a long exhale and disengaged the ExCal’s helmet seal. The faceplate slid open, revealing sweat trickling down his brow. Inside the suit, Stryker’s heart was pounding. It had all unfolded in mere minutes.

Kirra, with Mateo’s help, was already struggling back to her feet. Though her face was bloodless and she trembled from the psychic trauma, her eyes shone with relief as she surveyed her people and realized the danger had passed.

“You… saved us,” she managed, voice hoarse but grateful.

Stryker stepped out of the armor, the servos whirring down. He nodded respectfully to Kirra, then immediately turned to gauge injuries. “Everyone alright?” he called.

His crew answered one by one. Julia was dust-covered and singed but gave a thumbs-up. Alexis pressed a hand against a shallow bleeding cut on her upper arm. “Just a scratch,” she assured him, breathing hard. Ayame wiped soot from her cheek and grinned shakily. “Nothing a hot bath won’t fix, Captain.” Talia, pale and shaken, knelt by Elias and two other hive citizens who had been knocked out by the disruptor, checking on them.

Concordance medics and a few citizens with shock wands rushed in moments later, alerted by the commotion. They began tending to the injured hive members and securing the unconscious intruders.

Stryker finally allowed himself to ease out of his combat stance. He looked down at one of the fallen attackers—the brute. Up close in the light, the sight was gruesome: beneath torn synthetic skin, the man’s arm had plating that resembled an insect’s carapace. Wires and metal bone gleamed in the gashes torn by Stryker’s blows. Despite the modifications, the face was unmistakably human.

Alexis limped over, drawn by morbid curiosity and duty. She knelt and placed two fingers on the brute’s neck, feeling for a pulse. “Dead,” she said quietly after a moment. There was a mix of sorrow and revulsion in her voice. Death was never easy to witness, even an enemy’s.

Julia had crouched by the other intruder—the agile one who had fallen from the rafters. She motioned briskly. “This one’s gone too.” The Concordance guard’s stun shot had been set to kill at that range.

A tense silence hung in the air. Kirra closed her eyes, perhaps offering a silent thought for lives lost on all sides. Mateo and Elias exchanged looks of shock and anger. Their safe haven had been violated in an instant.

Alexis peeled back a shredded flap of the brute’s bodysuit. “Sir… look at this,” she said to Stryker. Beneath the fabric were patches of scaled, chitinous plating embedded in the man’s flesh. It looked like someone had surgically implanted segments of an insectoid-human exoskeleton under his skin. Along his spine, she noted ports for neural jacks, not unlike those used by the hive—only these looked altered, corrupted.

Stryker felt a chill as he took in the abomination before them. Kirra stepped closer, clutching Talia’s arm for support. Her face was stricken as she saw the evidence with her own eyes. “They have neural laces… twisted versions of them,” Kirra said, voice barely above a whisper. Indeed, at the base of the brute’s skull, a familiar circular interface was grafted—similar to a Concordance implant, but augmented by alien-looking circuitry.

Mateo’s expression turned sorrowful and furious all at once. “Not aliens,” he spat. “Our own kind, remade into something monstrous.”

“Not our kind,” Julia muttered darkly, holstering her sidearm with a shaking hand. “No human I know would do this to themselves willingly.”

“Fanaticism or coercion… either way,” Stryker said, standing to his full height, “the Xed are engineered humans. They’re not an outside force come to prey on us—they’re born of humanity’s own science and sins.” It was a grim confirmation of what their hive search and the fight itself had revealed.

Alexis exhaled, looking down at the lifeless hybrid soldier with deep sadness. “So advanced… all that technology and genetic augmentation, and they use it to destroy and steal. Why?”

No one had an answer yet. The Concordance medics finished tending to the wounded hive members. Thankfully, aside from headaches and a few cuts, the colony folk had no fatalities. Even the guard who bravely stood his ground was already back on his feet, rubbing his temples but flashing a relieved smile to Kirra.

One by one, the hive citizens turned their eyes to the Endeavor crew. Some were wide with shock, others with gratitude. Many had felt fragments of what happened despite the disruption—the sudden violence, the way these outsiders fought to defend them. Their expressions spoke volumes: decades of wariness between Concordance and UFSC were melting in the face of undeniable proof that these individuals had their back.

Kirra drew herself up and faced Stryker fully. “Captain Foxx,” she said, her voice recovering strength, “your actions today prevented a great tragedy.” She gestured to the core, still safely gleaming behind cracked glass but intact. “Had they taken or destroyed our central data core… I shudder to think of the loss. You and your crew put yourselves at risk for us. The Concordance will not forget this.”

Stryker shook his head humbly. “We did what was right. And we’d do it again.” He paused, scanning over the injured and the damage. “I’m only sorry we brought this danger to your doorstep.” It was a fear gnawing at him—had the Xed tracked the Endeavor here, knowing they might lead them to a trove of genetic data? Or would the colony have been attacked regardless? Perhaps they’d never know.

“You did not bring them. They were already in the shadows, hunting,” Kirra said firmly, reading the guilt in his face. “If anything, your presence thwarted a larger disaster. They might have taken us by surprise completely… and we would have had no chance.” She managed a small, sincere smile. “By coming here, you saved us.”

Julia stepped forward, offering Kirra a respectful nod. “Frankly, ma’am, we owe you thanks. If not for your quick thinking to let us access your network, we might still be in the dark about the Xed’s goals. Now we know what we’re up against.”

“Indeed,” Mateo agreed. He looked at the bodies of the intruders being carefully covered by a couple of hive guardians. “And we have the evidence right here to share with all humanity. The Xed think they can break us into terrified factions… but today, we’ve proven the opposite.”

He met Stryker’s eyes with newfound respect. “Today, Concordance and UFSC stood together. I suspect that was not part of the Xed’s plan.”

A young hive technician ran in, breathless. “Facilitator, the data core is secure,” she reported after checking a console. “No breach attempts succeeded. We lost some peripheral systems but nothing critical.”

Kirra closed her eyes in relief. “Thank the Unity…” she murmured. Then she squared her shoulders and turned to Stryker with resolve. “Captain, the Concordance is at your disposal in responding to this threat. We will immediately transmit detailed alerts to all our sister colonies about what transpired here. The Xed will find no easy prey among the hive worlds again.”

Talia, still standing at Kirra’s side, looked between the captain and her elders. The girl’s face was a mixture of lingering fear and bright admiration. In the short time since the attack, something in her expression had changed—hardened into determination. She stepped forward, trembling slightly. “Captain, I… I’d like to help stop them. Not just from here, but—” She swallowed, then blurted out, “I want to join your crew on the Endeavor.”

A hush fell. Kirra and Mateo turned to Talia in surprise, clearly not having expected that.

Talia hurried on, words tumbling out. “I can be of use. You’ll need someone who understands the hive databases and can decode any memory threads you recovered. And I… I can share information back to our people. Keep us coordinated.” Her composure wavered for a moment, the enormity of what she was volunteering dawning on her. “If… if you’ll have me, that is.”

Stryker was taken aback by the request. Talia couldn’t have been more than seventeen or eighteen. To leave the collective and venture out among strangers—dangerous ones at that—was no small decision for a hive-linked person. “Talia,” he said carefully, “joining us would mean leaving your home and the direct reach of your hive’s link, possibly for long periods. That’s a lot to ask.”

Kirra gently touched Talia’s shoulder. Her expression was tender yet conflicted. “Child… think about this.”

“I have,” Talia replied softly, turning to face Kirra and the others. “When that disruptor hit, when our minds went silent… I have never been so afraid. But I also felt something else—their hate, trying to tear us apart. I won’t let them. If traveling with Captain Foxx’s crew is how I can best serve the Unity, then that’s what I want to do.” She looked back at Stryker, eyes shining. “Let me help you stop the Xed. Please.”

Stryker glanced to Kirra, not wanting to overstep. The facilitator studied Talia for a long moment. Then she smiled—a bit sadly, but proudly. “Our Talia has always yearned to see more of the stars than this humble branch of Unity,” Kirra said, brushing a lock of hair behind the girl’s ear. “The mind council will allow it, if Captain Foxx agrees. She will be our envoy, so that all our minds remain as one in purpose.”

It was clear Kirra was putting on a brave face. Others in the hive group looked uncertain or misty-eyed. For a hive member to depart was rare and emotionally taxing—akin to a family member moving far away, multiplied by the intimacy of their bonds.

Stryker nodded solemnly. “Then we’d be honored to have you aboard, Talia.” He met the young woman’s gaze. “Your insight might save lives. And I promise, we’ll take good care of you.”

Talia exhaled, relief and excitement mingling on her face. “Thank you, Captain.” She gave a resolute nod, as if sealing her own commitment.

Ayame clapped Talia gently on the back. “Welcome to the adventure,” she quipped kindly. “We’ll make a space for you on the Endeavor. Don’t worry, we’ve got earplugs if we play music too loud,” she added with a wink, trying to lighten the mood. Talia managed a small laugh at that.

Within the hour, with the situation on New Eden stabilized, the Endeavor crew readied to depart. The Concordance elders provided Stryker with a data drive containing everything—sensor records of the attack, biomedical scans of the intruders’ bodies, and the compiled info on the Xed-related incidents. “This will help you warn others,” Mateo said, pressing the drive into Stryker’s hand. “The galaxy must know what we’re facing.”

Outside the Hall of Unity, under the late-afternoon sky, Stryker and his crew gathered to say farewell. Kirra and a crowd of hive citizens accompanied them to the landing pad where the shuttle waited. The mood was somber but hopeful—changes had been set in motion.

Julia oversaw the transfer of the two intruders’ bodies into stasis pods on the shuttle; they would be taken for further study by UFSC specialists. Several hive technicians watched the process with a mix of aversion and curiosity, but none protested. The Concordance wanted the truth as much as anyone.

Finally, all was ready. Talia embraced Kirra, Mateo, and Elias one by one. Though she was holding herself together, her eyes brimmed with tears as the shared warmth of her people swirled around her one last time before departure. “We are with you always,” Kirra whispered, touching her forehead to Talia’s in a familial gesture. Talia nodded, wiping her cheeks and mustering a brave smile.

Stryker and Kirra clasped hands firmly. “Thank you for your trust,” Stryker said quietly. “We won’t let the Concordance down.”

Kirra’s eyes flashed with determination. “I know you won’t. Go in unity, Captain. And know that today, a new alliance is born. We will coordinate with your leaders at the UFSC. The Xed wanted to divide humanity; instead they have brought us together.”

“They’ll live to regret it,” Stryker replied. For the first time in a long while, he felt a fierce spark of optimism in the face of danger.

With final salutes and waves, the Endeavor crew boarded the shuttle, and its hatch sealed with a hiss. As the craft lifted off, the crowd of hive citizens raised their hands in a communal gesture of farewell and solidarity. Talia stood at a viewport, resting a palm on the glass as she watched her entire world grow smaller below. She could still faintly sense the chorus of minds down there—sorrowful goodbyes, encouragement, love—all flowing to her through the long-range link. She closed her eyes and held those feelings close as the shuttle ascended into the sky.

Minutes later, back aboard the Endeavor, Stryker guided the ship out of New Eden’s gravity well. On the bridge, there was an intense quiet as everyone processed the day’s events. Repairs were already underway for minor systems fried by the disruptor’s interference. Ayame reported the ship itself suffered no damage; she and her engineers stood down from red alert.

Talia hovered by the science station where Alexis was gently helping her adjust the settings on a console. The young hive woman looked a touch lost without the constant buzz of her collective in her head, but Alexis gave her an encouraging bump. “You doing okay?”

Talia mustered a determined smile. “I can still feel them… it’s faint, like an echo. It’s enough.” She focused on the console readout of local subspace frequencies—already working, already contributing.

At the helm, Julia glanced over her shoulder at the new addition to their crew. A faint, rueful smile touched Julia’s lips. She caught Stryker’s eye. “Never imagined I’d see the day we’d have a hive emissary on a UFSC ship,” she murmured, low enough that only he heard as he stepped to his captain’s chair.

Stryker raised an eyebrow. “Regrets?”

Julia shook her head, her smile growing a bit. “No, sir. I’m… glad. After what we went through down there, I’d fight alongside them any day.” There was respect in her tone—hard-won and genuine.

Stryker felt a small swell of pride. Julia overcoming her unease was one more victory today. “I feel the same way,” he said simply.

He settled into the captain’s seat. The bridge lights dimmed to cruising illumination as the Endeavor cleared atmosphere and entered open space. Alexis finished securing the data drive from New Eden into the ship’s computer and gave Stryker a thumbs-up. Ayame relayed a ready signal from engineering. Julia’s hands hovered over the navigation controls. Talia stood by Alexis, a silent but resolute figure, ready to lend her knowledge.

Stryker took a moment to look at each of his people—his crew, now more diverse than ever and bonded by combat and purpose. In the span of a single chapter of their journey, everything had changed. They were no longer operating in isolation; they had allies of entirely new kinds and critical intelligence to guide them.

He tapped the ship-wide comm. “All hands,” he began, his voice calm and steady, “this is the Captain. I want to commend everyone for their extraordinary efforts today. We encountered the enemy face-to-face and protected one of our fellow human colonies from a devastating strike. The Concordance hive stands with us now, and we carry their hopes and trust aboard.”

Throughout the ship, crew members paused to listen—some nursing bandaged wounds, others slumped with exhaustion but listening intently.

“We have learned much,” Stryker continued. “The threat we face, the Xed, are not aliens lurking in the dark—they are engineered humans, wielding stolen technology and twisted ideals. They targeted New Eden thinking it would be easy prey. They were wrong.” His voice hardened. “We showed them what unity can accomplish. We will carry that lesson forward.”

He nodded to Julia. On the forward screen, a star map appeared, highlighting their next destination gleaned from patterns of the attacks—a remote oceanic research colony named Coralysis, rumored to be another potential target. “Our mission continues,” Stryker said over the comm. “We have new intel and new allies. We will not let the Xed’s crimes go unanswered.

“Take a moment, if you can, to rest and tend to any injuries. Then we move out. We’ll carry the fight forward—and we won’t be fighting alone.”

As he clicked off, a determined quiet fell. Stryker leaned back slightly, letting out a long breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. In the reflection of the bridge windows, he caught sight of Talia standing beside Alexis. The girl gave him a brave nod, as if to say we’re with you. Stryker returned it gratefully.

The Endeavor’s engines hummed as Julia laid in the new course. Stars began to elongate into streaks.

Stryker allowed himself a final glance at New Eden receding behind—a green-blue jewel growing smaller among the stars—and felt a fierce resolve kindle in his chest. Today had brought answers and forged bonds in blood and trust. The enemy had revealed themselves, and the true battle was beginning.

He didn’t know who orchestrated these attacks or what their endgame was. But with his crew—and newfound allies—by his side, Stryker felt a fire burning through the uncertainty. Whatever the Xed’s next move, the Endeavor and her team would be ready to meet it head-on.

As the ship jumped to faster-than-light and the starlines streaked across the viewscreen, Stryker silently promised to all of them: we will be ready.