You're clear to enter. Welcome to Haven's Reach.
We'll take it from here. Get your wounded to
the infirmary. Who hurt her? Keep the injured
inside. Priority on those who hit hardest. Boo!
The rest of you, follow me to the debrief station.
43 left. Feels like a bad dream. It's not. I'm
still breathing, and that's what counts. You
did well under impossible conditions. That stalker
capture command's already heard. You've done
super, crowd. Get cleaned up. You've earned it.
I'll expect your debrief at 0600. 22 cliques
outside of Nuke Lightsport. Sand in our boots.
Have a convoy running on fumes. And a sedated
stalker humming like a live wire in the back.
Still remember thinking. We made it through the
outpost and a nuke. Would be real poetic if a
black tire killed us. And you really got there?
No trouble? We got our people medevaced first.
Priorities. Chopper dust -offs. Cities shuffled
into hard shelters. No one left behind. Grayson
made sure of that. Damn right I did. Caban gave
us one mission. We gave ourselves two. And we
did it. 43 of us rolled in. 43 of us left. That
was the miracle. So what happened after delivery?
We had a lot of police down. Rewired some defense
turrets. We established perimeter protocols.
Then Stone, sorry, Captain Stone, called for
one last team huddle. Damn right he did. Found
this rickety old shack just outside the lab walls.
Half the roof was missing, but it had four walls
and a generator. Looked a lot like this place,
actually. Turns out the settlement rebuilt over
that same plot years later. Changed the name,
cleaned the floors, added a jukebox, but it's
the same dirt. You all shipped out together after
that? We did. No transfers, no reassignment roulette,
one unit, one ship. Field commission came through
a week later. Captain Stone officially. First
sergeant here became my right hand. What? That's
a whole other story. It was a bottle of whiskey.
Two faulty escape pods and a diplomatic incident
with a trade envoy from Hellion 9. And a concussion,
if I remember right. Well, that about wraps it
up. Appreciate the story, sir. We've got to head
back to the barracks anyway. Big day tomorrow.
Don't be late. You get one hangover pass and
it expired yesterday. Hey, uh, Grayson. One nice
drink before lights out? Thought you'd never
ask. that training off on Valham 6, the one with
the faulty parachutes. You mean the controlled
descent exercise? Yeah, you landed face first
in a swamp. Huh, and you dangled in a tree for
an hour before admitting you were stuck. Still
pulling off a better landing than you. I kept
my uniform dry. Except for the part where I had
to climb up and get you in front of the whole
squad. That was the same weekend we snuck out
to Port Arden, wasn't it? That little ramen shack
off the marina? You bought that awful home, Monica.
Tried to play something romantic in the rain
as we walked the pier. It sounded better when
you were laughing. Back then, we thought we could
keep working, whatever that was, in separate
compartments. Cadets by day, partners in crime
by night. Until we weren't. I still remember
that look when we backed up after Final Sims.
You didn't say a word. Didn't have to. You knew
why. Yeah, we wanted to make command. No distractions,
no weakness. Still think about that ramen shack.
Sometimes. Me too. You never did let me finish
my song. You were off key. Yeah, I was, wasn't
I? You know, I never did figure out where you
got sent after that. A couple of years later,
you just vanished. Heard rumors you took an intel
assignment. Black ops rotation, maybe. Actually,
that's why I'm here. at least it's related to
why I'm here, but I'm here in an unofficial capacity.
Unofficial, huh? I can't talk about this here.
Let's just say it's got to do with why you retired
early. I'm not sure what you've heard, but you're
right. We can't talk here. Let's head back to
my hotel. You remember when you nearly got court
-martialed for rewiring the mess hall coffee
dispenser to dispense rum? It was tactical morale
engineering. And technically, I was never caught.
Just strongly advised to dismantle it. You bribed
Sergeant Mendoza with cigars to keep quiet. Better
than your bribe. You gave him a copy of your
handwriting file to use as a stencil. Hey, mine
was legible. Yours looked like an automaton mid
-seizure. Do you remember Professor Cooley? Ethics
of War, Honda? Always wore that antique scarf
even in the dead of summer. Vaya Cooley. Yeah,
I remember. Didn't she leave the academy our
senior year? Something about... Exactly. That's
her. She left, but before she... What? What is
it? Shh. Wait, that's a data courier drone. Haven't
seen one of those since... Super Earth ID SEZ
-90421. Code word confirmation required for delivery.
Authenticate now. Hold on, let me think. Well?
Oh, shoot. Blue Tango 89. on your comms. You
should have left that disc. I saw it in the elevator
after I watched you draw on the drone that wasn't
even in audible or visual range. Well, damn.
That's when I got suspicious. Yeah, okay, fine.
I've got a team in the area providing overwatch.
Hand it over. Why? Because I don't trust anyone
right now. Not Central Command. Not dead officers
from 20 years ago. Suddenly leaving breadcrumbs.
And especially not a team from outside me and
you. If we're about to talk about what's going
on, I currently only trust one person on this
planet. They're just here for backup. Uh -huh.
Well, they can stay as backup without listening.
Not elegant, but it'll stop receiving for now.
After we talk... I'll want to see their faces
before we make our next move. Alright, let's
figure out what's on this disc. While that scan
is for malware, how about you fill in a few blanks?
Like why you're here, why you have a team here,
and what the hell is going on. or Grayson? Because
of Colonel Hackard. Hackard? From the Academy?
The Scarf and Ethics Debates? Yeah, that Hackard.
She warned me years ago. Said I was being transferred
into the Ministry of Truth. Yeah, I've heard
of it. Shadowy Ops. Misinformation cleanup. Never
anything official while also somehow being official.
That's the idea. Control the narrative. Rewrite
what needs rewriting. Marry what can't be spun.
So this isn't about bugs or black ops. This is
about what exactly? Are you wanting me to lie
to the people? This is about who gets to tell
the story. It's about more than that. There are
factions within the organization. Something I
wish I had known before joining. And they don't
play nice. We wanted to recruit you because...
File loaded. Operation Overreach. Does that sound
familiar? No. Hit play. Operation Designation
Overreach SE. Date is January 21st, 2183. Participants
have been pre -screened and tagged for redaction
protocols. We've intercepted radio patterns that
are yet to be fully unencrypted. Area of origin,
Validus Sector. They've intercepted radio communication
with an external force. However... We have been
unable to gain significant information to know
exactly who. What we do know from what we have
decoded, and to the volume of signals outside
the galaxy, shows that whoever it is has a fleet,
and it appears that fleet is growing. We believe
their objective is to invade. While you are all
aware that Cyberstan is currently under our control,
What you may not know is that we have been experiencing
communication issues. Entire cargo ships have
been going missing. However, we have recently
learned that somehow those who were buried and
presumed dead have come out. As you can see on
your data terminals, these are no longer just
humans within plants, but are fully mechanical
in nature. We've dispatched teams to go into
the tunnels to perform a strike, but to no avail.
It's currently unknown what's happened. These
teams just disappear. So what's the plan? Why
are we just getting briefed on this now? That
is why the brief is happening now. While we are
currently farming and genetically modifying Terminids,
as has been successful, we should move the timeline
up. Moving the timeline up will mean E710 yield
will drop below prediction. By mid -August of
next year, it should be completely successful
and full strength. This will give us the desired
fuel that we need for reserves. They used us.
All of us. We weren't just holding the line,
we were feeding it. Now you see why they buried
it. Hey, what's that file? Hmm. But why now?
What changed? And why me? Meeting Place. Prosperity
Falls. Cancer Receptor. Coordinates listed. Grid
38 .9517 North. 77 .1467 West. Blue Leaf Obscura
Site. I don't know. Vea said I'd be contacted,
but... This isn't what I expected. What was that?
one four six seven zed e x x h o p d k t e b
x v d o b v l w h o r f d w l r q Those numbers.
That's the same grid from the file just now.
This is gibberish. It's a Caesar cipher. Shift
3. It was our old academy drill cipher. Just
between me and Cooley. So decode it. P -H -H
-W -X -S -D -W -J -U -L -G. Shifted back. That's...
Meet up at grid. Same grid, same location. It's
the same message. Meet up at grid. Blue leaf
obscure site location. So it's her. That cipher.
We created it together. No one else could have
known that. Then I guess we'll find out which.
But we have an issue. You would stand out if
I didn't do the morning broadcast tomorrow. Yeah,
I'm gonna provide Overwatch with my team. Get
some rest. Alright, here's the plan. Bulldog,
I'll meet you at the plaza in the morning. Sounds
like a plan. Not a good one, but a plan nonetheless.
Good morning, Haven's Reach. You're waking up
to clear, golden skies across the city. Expect
highs in the mid -70s, light breeze coming in
from the east. Perfect weather for reflection
and remembrance. Today marks 20 years since the
Halloween offensive. Well, I didn't get much
sleep. Who am I kidding? I didn't sleep. Who
gave everything for freedom. Gates open soon,
and the official ceremony begins in just a few
hours. You'll hear it live right here and across
the sector. Until then, stay safe, stay warm,
and thank a veteran. This is Sector 1 Broadcasting,
your voice of Super Earth. outside. Let's roll.
We've got 60 minutes to wire it. Confirm spectrum
lock and reverse sound cues. Got three games
for Pan, Titan, Crowd. We'll be rolling by the
time you step up. Stay on passive scan. If anything
jumps freaks during this speech, I want to flag
and freeze. My grid three is tied to the plaza
podium. We're bouncing up Luther Haven South
Railway. Type beam. Clean channel. Brackets tight.
Audio relays hot. Channel six clear. Confirm
tripod stability. We're green. Cameras pen locked.
Field dampeners engaged. Thermal lens calibrated.
Sector scan clean. Wind pickup from quadrant
three. Minimal interference expected. Mark it
and stand by. Let's keep this sharp. You're watching
now. remembrance and resolve. 20 years ago we
faced annihilation. Not in the form of numbers
alone, but in the failure of unity. And yet,
we held. We bled. We won. This morning we remember
those we left behind. Not just as soldiers, but
as dreamers who believed in the mission of democracy.
Who believed, like I still do. Let their memory
guide us. Let our unity defend us. For liberty,
for duty, and for the republic we serve. This
broadcast stands in their honor. Jammer relay
steady. We're holding the perimeter. No surprise.
PAR check. Echo team, report status. Echo 1.
All green. Overwatch from the comms annex in
building C. No movement. Sweep negative. Echo
3. North alley, green. Echo 4. Mobile. Doing
a quick patrol sweep around the plaza loop. Crowd
is warming up. Everyone's behaving. Copy all.
Check back in 30. If you break line, mark last
coordinate. Bulldog's voice echoes through the
plaza now. Civil, Karn, I used to believe all
of it too. I still want to, but not blindly.
Not anymore. Echo 4, status check. Your signal's
offline. Four, this is Control. Confirm last
position. Come on! Control, this is Echo Two.
I'll check on his last ping. East sector, near
vendor stalls. Back in two. Copy. Keep comms
open. Echo Two, status. You see Echo 4? Echo
2, respond. Do you copy? Damn it. Echo 3, do
you have eyes on either? Negative control. I
saw movement down by the south line, then comms
fuzzed. No visuals now. Repositioning for height.
Something's wrong. Someone's pulling pieces off
the board. Echo 3, start making your way back
here. I am terminating the off. Control it. Echo
3? Echo 3? Echo 3! Grayson? Whoa, what the hell
are you doing? My team's down. All of them. Echo
1 through 4, gone. Gone? What do you mean, gone?
Who? I don't know. No chatter, no bodies, just
blacked out comms and no visuals. We've got to
move, right now. We are not safe here. Black
Bear, copy. If we don't make it, get it to someone
who still gives a damn. Let's wait. What's that?
What? Blackbird, this is Sleipner Control, requesting
emergency pickup. Commandant, pad 8 -14. Repeat,
pad 8 -14. I need an evac. Where the hell is
that? South Quadrant. Other side of the city.
Great. Gonna be a fun drive. ETA. It's gonna
take a hot minute to get there. Something's off.
We've got a tail. Black sedan. Two vehicles back.
Low slump. Windows tinted. Gotta shake them.
Watch the pedestrian. Got it. They're down. Let's
keep moving. Oh, it's about damn time. You know,
you've got questions, Stone. But right now, answers
can't wait. We both need to get off this rock.
Thanks, sir. I didn't know who else to call.
The whole damn game just changed. Okay, okay.
So what the hell is going on? Hmm. Let's begin.