It had been a harrowing week for Mark. He’d barely slept, barely spoken. The ashes of the Invincible War still choked the city air as he floated down beside a shattered hospital, cradling concrete beams off a trapped survivor. Sirens wailed in the distance, mingling with sobs and coughing. The ground was stained in blood. And yet, this was peace — or the fragile idea of it.

He didn’t notice the shadow until it blanketed him.

She hovered above, with one robotic arm clenched, wind whipping her silver hair like a banner of war. Her single eye burned through the haze, locking onto him as if she had waited centuries for this moment.

“Stand ready for my arrival, Worm. You were given orders. You were given time. You were given more leeway than most... And yet I find this planet unprepared for the arrival of our Viltrum Empire. The Empire anticipated your resistance... Which is why they sent me."

"I am Conquest, and I am your last chance to fulfill your duty.”