[BEGIN ARCHIVED TRANSMISSION – PRIORITY RED] Timestamp: 05:04:11 GST Location: Super Earth – Command Outpost Echo-9 Status: LAST STAND INITIATED

The screen flickers. A handheld camera lens struggles to focus through dust and static interference. Emergency lights pulse red. In the background: shouting, boots against steel, distant explosions.

A shaky voice cuts through the feed.

“This is Sergeant Marius Kellen, 4th Helldiver Battalion… if you’re seeing this, command’s gone dark. The sky’s… it’s on fire. Navy’s in pieces. Bugs breached the inner perimeter ten minutes ago. Automatons are pushing through Sector Five. We lost contact with the orbital line.”

He turns the camera toward a shattered skyline, glowing orange. A massive explosion lights the horizon — the silhouette of a crashed SEAF dropship just beyond a burning arcology tower. Thunder rolls in the distance — not weather. Artillery.

“We’ve got maybe one functional stratagem beacon left. SEEC boys are trying to boot it up, but we’re down to pistols and prayers.”

He glances down at a bloodied SEAF banner half-buried in rubble. Slowly, he picks it up.

“We’re not running. We’re holding this sector until the last breath. If you’re hearing this and you’re still out there — rally at Echo-9. Bring everything. Bring Hell with you.”

A pause. He slams a fresh mag into his Liberator rifle.

“For Super Earth. For Democracy.”

The screen shudders. Screams and gunfire rise in the distance. Then — silence. The footage ends with a final pulse of static and one final line across the bottom of the feed:

[ALL SEAF FORCES: STAND FAST. PLANETARY STATUS: CRITICAL.]