The first breach was announced not by the distant drum of combat but by an earth-shuddering roar from the base's heart.
A torn rift of violet-black light split the reinforced courtyard's granite paving, disgorging a horde of hideous silhouettes.
Soldiers looked up from their drills only to see grotesque forms, horned, sinewed, and leering, pouring through the shimmering tear.
Chaos erupted in every direction.
Warships docked on retractable pylons unleashed volleys of searing plasma and scintillating arc-lance beams, their fire streaking through the courtyard's mist.
The sky over the base lit up with tracer trails; cruisers banked and pivoted to strike at demons that caromed across the tarmac.
From the flight decks, gunners pressed gauntlet-mounted relays, unleashing torrents of compressed mana that sizzled against the invaders' flesh.
On the ground, infantry units scrambled to form defensive perimeters.
