BASE ATLAS 4 - RESISTANCE HEADQUARTERS

Calgary, Canada

"Day V" - August 12, 2025



"After three long years of war that felt like a decade, there was hope thanks to the Garlesh locating the world where the leader of the invaders was directing everything and preparing a supposed super weapon with which he could annihilate everything. We were tasked with decrypting the code to deactivate the shields in order to access this weapon and the coordinates for re-entry to Earth, while the largest battalion of the resistance would be sent into the final battle for survival..."



Amidst intense combat among the devastated remains of the city, one of what had once been a CASE tactical operations base became the last fully operational stronghold of the resistance against the threat of the Conglomerate, with improved anti-aircraft defenses that, despite successfully repelling the entry of insectoid fighters and soldiers, could not hold out much longer against the imminent advance of an approximately 80-meter-long battleship that began bombarding the nearby perimeter, forcing the human and Zoosapiens squads to retreat despite the steady progress of the other alien troops , with constant radio messages being transmitted from inside the base saying:

"Mayday! Mayday! To all remaining units in the vicinity of Atlas 4 base, we request urgent support for defense and evacuation of the wounded. The base is transmitting to the people in Soul of Glory. We cannot afford to lose contact now!"

Inside the base, amid the chaos of constant alarms and small tremors from nearby explosions, the people in charge of operations were urgently directing attacks and going to different sections of the base to be assigned to prioritize damage or direct others in a new operation. In a communications room, a young Kelly, wearing tactical gear and a Kevlar helmet, was covered in debris and ash from having been in the middle of another war zone earlier. She was carrying a half-full bag on her back and a modified pistol on her belt, with both robotic arms armed in a rudimentary manner with loose but fully functional parts. using a tool integrated into her right arm to weld a damaged section of circuitry on a wall near the secondary control panels at full speed and with a wrench in her mouth, which she then grabs with her other hand to attach a protective plate with four nuts that she screws on at full speed, using her robotic limbs to rotate her wrist 360°.



As soon as it finishes, the panels that were off come back on, and it lets the human technicians who were waiting know that it's ready. It immediately runs to another section of the area where they were calling it "Spengler," using its fox-like agility to move on all fours through a narrow hallway that had collapsed from the damage of the battle, stopping for a moment to look out the window as the conflict continued to escalate, nervously repeating to herself, "We're going to get out of this... we're going to get out of this..." As she ran normally after passing through the hallway, she continued on to the main command room where, in the center of a table with a holographic projection of the location, the main technicians and commanders were directing the entire operation, in addition to a second table with another holographic projection of a terrestrial ship similar to a floating warship with four large wings and two ion thrusters, which, according to its specifications, was 50 meters long and was the CASE mobile command center located in another area, communicating and performing diagnostics from there, with several areas in the hologram marked in red indicating structural damage.


Kelly quickly approaches the commanders, introducing himself with a military salute. He is an African American man of about 50 years of age with slightly graying hair and beard, the deputy director of CASE, Alan Scort, and a Tiger Zoosapien with a robotic left arm, similar in technology to the one Kelly was wearing. the current Alpha of the Zoosapiens established in America, Rovek Zameru, who, upon seeing her, immediately leave the others in command to speak with her.



Scort: What is the status of communications?



Kelly: Functional, but stable at 78%, sir.



Rovek: And the remaining NSR and Terragen units?



Kelly: Only one NSR squad remains active, and the Terragen are holed up in the rubble, but their heartbeats are still active. I can't say for sure if they're all still alive... The other engineers are already monitoring that thanks to my repairing communications.



Rovek: .... We're going to need a miracle to keep this place standing for more than an hour....



Scort: We'll hold out less than half an hour if that battleship stays in the air, but still....



Suddenly, louder impacts are heard outside, affecting us more than before as part of the ceiling collapses in one area and everyone is shaken violently, falling or staggering where they are. From the window, which ends up breaking due to a shock wave, everyone watches as the bombardment is already affecting the interior of the base, with one of the two towers behind the other side of the base on the holographic plane already collapsed, cutting off the information about the Soul of Glory and the transmission they were sending. Kelly approaches to try to restore the ship's data on the control panel, but it continues to show the ship in red with a "Loss of Communication" alert, while Scort and Rovek look at each other with concern after what happened and the ship's information confirming that the worst has happened.



Kelly: No, no, no, no... I'm sure they just cut off communication... They can't have...



Rovek: They did it... They shot down the Soul of Glory in enemy territory that we can't reach...



Scort: And everyone who was there...



Kelly: They were already on the surface of that planet, surely they are still carrying out the operation without us...



Kelly turns to see how both leaders activate the evacuation alert over the radio and order all remaining units to leave the area immediately, as the second communications tower, which also powered the anti-aircraft weapons, is no longer working and there is no information from the Soul of Glory. asking them to disperse to safe areas until further notice. The technicians and other soldiers at the base begin to evacuate in the midst of combat, but several fail to do so, being hit by the bombardment or having their off-road vehicles destroyed as they begin to move away.



Kelly watches helplessly and with concern as the battleship approaches along with the other Conglomerate troops, then looks back at the leaders and the others in the room as they begin to retreat quickly.



Kelly: We can't give up now!



If they stay there, they must get what's left of Bastion's encryption. It's the only thing we have left to put an end to all this. We have nowhere else to go!



The other tower is intact. We just need to redirect the power to...



Scort: There's nothing left to do... What we have left won't be able to stop that battleship... Or whatever is approaching from the depths...



Everyone looks at the holographic map where a biological hazard alert is activated in several parts of the perimeter in shapes resembling roots emerging from the Earth under the name Technofragna. Kelly looks at the warning with a certain fear on her face.



Rovek: It's over, girl... We're sorry we had to drag you into all this, but there's nothing more we can do... Thanks for all your help with the machinery, but you have to save yourself with the others.



Both leaders remain in place, trying to guide the others who are evacuating to evade the troops and the battleship's attacks, while Kelly, somewhat dissatisfied, obeys and heads to the ground assault hangar to board one of the vehicles that were evacuating, but she stops short, thoughtful, and removes a necklace from her neck with a nut attached to a wooden heart with a yellow crystal in the center, which she stares at and sighs decisively, taking one of the unoccupied motorcycles and saying to herself



Kelly: ... Well, I have nothing left to lose...



The vehicles continue to evacuate while the commanders supervise from where they are, and they are surprised to see that one of the motorcycles is going in the opposite direction, straight towards the Conglomerate forces and the biological risk areas. They order over the radio that whoever is in that vehicle should leave immediately, but Kelly, driving towards the tower, turns off the radio and turns it back on to another channel, speaking through a communicator in her helmet:



Kelly: This is Kelly Spengler, the base's second mechanical technician. I know I'm asking you to risk your lives, but there's still a slight chance of winning if we redirect the energy load to just one of the towers. I need the support of at least one more technician to do the manual override from the base while I configure the tower. Do you copy?



As Kelly moves forward, trying to evade the Conglomerate soldiers' gunfire and bombardment, there is only static and no response. She ends up falling off the motorcycle and losing her helmet after a shot hits the rear wheel. The force of the fall separates her left leg and tail, But she quickly picks up her parts and joins them together, then gets up and continues running to the tower while being targeted by several aliens, until inside the base, a young Siamese cat Zoosapien who was fixing the engine of a vehicle that wouldn't start decides not to get in and quickly approaches a panel to respond while grabbing the microphone with his paw.



"This is technician 304, I support you and I will take care of the gap."



Kelly listens in surprise as she enters the tower and takes cover as several aliens approach her position and prepares to throw a PEM grenade from her equipment at them, which, although it would not harm them, she hoped would stun them for a moment. But just as she was about to do so, one of CASE's turbine-rotor jets flies overhead at low altitude to shoot them down with its machine gun and then flies away again to defend the surrounding area while someone else responds to her message.



"This is Ronin Squadron. We're not all here, but we're not going to move from here until you're done or we all go down."



As Kelly disconnects his left arm and puts it in his bag, then takes out his real flesh-and-blood arm and connects it, he watches as some fighters that were approaching to land at the site are shot down by a rocket launcher from a Coyote Taur and a Terragen in desert armor who are aiming at them from one of the ledges of the base, signaling to Kelly that they are watching.

Kelly begins his work by opening the protective plate on the pillar in the center of the second floor of the tower and unfolding a panel with a screen on one side of two internal connections resembling pipe ducts with cables on the sides aligned perpendicularly. He separates them with a tool on his right arm and a handle he was holding with his normal arm, then temporarily cuts the power so as not to electrocute himself. Meanwhile, the technician at the base goes to the power area, where he does the same with a large station full of panels located at the back and communicates with his radio.



"The flow has already been changed from the base, you can change it now!"



Kelly confirms that he will do so, but for some reason it doesn't work and the power doesn't come back on. The panel indicates that a second conductor must be modified at the top of the tower. The cat also notices it on the panel where he is and communicates again.



"I see it. It takes two people at the same time to do that. Give me a moment and I'll be right there!"



To get to where Kelly was quickly, the cat takes a jetpack from the equipment nearby, which had been produced in small quantities by the resistance using reverse engineering from the aliens, and exits through one of the emergency exits, ready to fly, but is intercepted by a small squad of insectoids and a Garlesh who were entering the base looking for survivors, from whom he takes cover behind a wall, He then jumps and activates the jetpack as he flies toward the tower while the soldiers try to shoot him, but they are eliminated by the jet.



The cat quickly reaches the top of the tower, protected by the other soldiers of the Ronin Squad, who eliminate the aliens trying to shoot him down, while Kelly below also defends the area with her EMP grenades, which give the squad the opportunity to eliminate the aliens more easily by removing their kinetic shield, but making it difficult for them to defend after one of the roots seen in the holographic plane emerges from the ground, with an appearance somewhere between organic and metallic in the black fabric that composed it and with multiple cracks or veins of a phosphorescent orange liquid, approximately 6 meters high and continuing to grow slowly while small octopus-like creatures with sharp heads composed of the same techno-organic material emerge and attack everything they see, including the Conglomerate soldiers, trying to cling to their faces and chests , and even trying to do the same with the corpses of those killed in combat in the surrounding area, which begin to move and rise to attack savagely after they have attached themselves. The Squadron makes it a priority to first get rid of the root and these parasites, along with the undead they were generating.



Kelly, seeing what is happening, tries to temporarily seal the door with her tool and put the window armor in place as well to prevent the parasitic beings from entering, communicating with the cat by radio, who confirms that he has already done the same procedure with the tools he was carrying at the top of the tower and is waiting to coordinate.



-All set!-



Kelly: It's now or never!



Kelly counts to 3 and they both simultaneously turn the left conduit toward a terminal on the right, and the power automatically returns. Meanwhile, the communicator Kelly is wearing on her wrist shows that the transmission was completed and the anti-aircraft system will be back online, supplying backup power to the base. Kade descends with Kelly with the help of the jetpack, now getting to know each other directly, while Kelly waits for the right moment to open the entrance when the infected are not nearby.



Kelly: I appreciate your help... really, thank you for coming.



"It's nothing. I couldn't leave you alone. It was the right thing to do."



Kelly: Now you must go. Those Technofragna are spreading, and there's no way to stop them.



The power goes out again when another bombardment from the battleship, which had already been slightly damaged by anti-aircraft defenses, knocks down the other tower and causes the floor where the two of them are standing to collapse sideways, blocking the exit and one of the windows. A large fragment is about to fall on the cat, but Kelly quickly grabs him and tries to push him into the area that hasn't completely collapsed, moving herself as well, but despite trying to stop them both with one of the window armor plates grabbed with her robotic arm, the debris still covers them both, and shortly after, the collapse stops. Outside, Terragen urges his team to go rescue them, but the increase in infected and Conglomerate forces in the area makes it impossible for them to get close, while the latter manage to shoot down the jet and launch a missile at the command room, forcing them to retreat.



A few minutes later, the cat begins to recover and notices that even though the ceiling did not completely collapse where they were, they were both trapped, and Kelly was in front of him, confirming that he was okay and still breathing, or at least her head was, which, with a modification to its connector, could float independently in front of the cat trapped by debris on its right leg while its body remained trapped behind the metal plate and more debris.



Kelly: Are you okay?



-Only my leg is stuck, but... How can you do that?...-



Kelly: I made a couple of modifications, and since my body is trapped there, it was the best way to check that you were okay. Now stay still.



Kelly looks at the debris trapping the cat's leg as he tries unsuccessfully to move it, and with his body still trapped, he extends his robotic arm and uses all his strength, while Kelly's face shows her effort to move the stone that had fallen on him, even though Kelly's arm fractures at the joint with a metallic crack and a couple of sparks, allowing the cat frees itself, limping slightly from its injured leg, and goes to try to help Kelly free the rest of her body while her head, now resting on a rock, looks out the window, still accessible for crawling out, as the energy that was temporarily keeping it afloat runs out.



"I have to get you out of here!"



Kelly: "Don't worry about me, the window hasn't collapsed, you can still get out of here."



"I said I was going to support you, and I'm going to do it. We're going to get out of here together."



Kelly: "They're approaching in droves. You're going to waste time here. Please go!"



The cat hurriedly searches through the rubble for the jetpack, still having difficulty walking. When he finds it and sees that it has only been damaged externally, he tries to tie it to the rocks above Kelly's body while her head looks at him with surprise and concern that he won't have time to leave. He sees her carefully but quickly lift her head and connect it back to her neck.



"You've saved too many lives to give up now, especially when it comes to you."



Kelly: "What are you talking about?"



You're The Reconstructor, right? The genius fox that other Zoosapiens talk about, how you improved the lives of those wounded in combat with your cybernetic prostheses and how you helped the Terragen and other Gen 2s free themselves from their mind control?



Kelly: Yes... So that's what they call me? I've only just found out.



Kelly, with her normal right arm still functional, prepares to push on the rocks as soon as the jack starts the propeller, and they both exert force as the rocks begin to rise due to the propeller, which, forced by the excess weight, begins to fail, but as soon as they rise a few inches, Kelly quickly pushes them and steps aside next to the metal plate, and the jack turns it off, dropping the rocks. Kelly looks at his damaged robotic arm and removes it to throw it aside. Then, from his bag, which had been left half-buried to one side, he takes out his other organic arm, slightly bruised by the collapse, and connects it, feeling a little pain when he flexes it.



Kelly: Well... At least it's intact...

And thanks again.



"We're in this together... I should carry spare parts too."



Guided by the movement and noise, several Technofragna parasites approach the place, trying to get in. The cat quickly moves away, and Kelly pulls out her gun and shoots them, immobilizing them with a single shot, emptying the only magazine she had. But due to the vibrations of the ship moving through the place and more infected trying to get in, the last exit through that window ends up collapsing, leaving them both trapped while more troops and infected arrive and fight fighting each other as they advance. Kelly and the cat desperately try to move the stones using the tactic they used before, but the backpack no longer works.



Kelly: Oh no... Come on, there must be some explosives around here...



-I don't have anything that can lift the rocks-



They both listen to the enemies advancing, worried, as they hear more explosions in the base and begin to accept that they have already lost.



Kelly: I'm Kelly, by the way...



-And I'm Kade... I think we share the same letter in our names, hehe...



Kelly: That's right... You're good, Kade... You think fast with what you have at hand...



Kade: You too, even with those robotic parts, you know how to fix things quickly...

Yes... For a moment I thought we were going to make it out...



Kelly: It's my fault... I brought you here...



Kade: No, I didn't think it was right to leave you alone in this situation, it's okay... We both did what we could...



Kelly: That's right... At least we tried to fight until the end... Thanks for everything, Kade...



They both sit down on one side of the wall, then look at each other for a moment, smiling because at least they're not alone. Kelly holds the necklace from before in her other hand, and then they close their eyes, waiting for what appears to be their imminent end, but to their surprise, they begin to hear the infected and parasites scream in pain before falling dead to the ground, along with several Conglomerate soldiers.



Outside, all the Technofragna, both near and far from the area, were experiencing the same thing, as were the Conglomerate soldiers themselves, who also appeared to be infected, having a mark similar to their infection on their forearm or behind their head, beginning to dry up and fade into white powder of dead cells, while the battleship began to veer slightly to one side and stopped firing. Taking advantage of the situation, some of the resistance vehicles and soldiers returned to fire at the Conglomerate soldiers who had not been affected by the event and to launch missiles at the battleship's main propellers, finally bringing it down and causing it to crash into several ruined buildings where it exploded.



With all the commotion, a small opening of just a few centimeters long opens up where Kelly and Kade were standing, letting in light, and they approach to see what is happening in surprise. Suddenly, they hear two voices agreeing to lift the rock, the coyote taur planting her paws firmly on the ground and the Terragen using all the strength of his joints at maximum power, which had previously helped them, joining forces to lift the fragment of the roof that had not collapsed, lifting it slightly, but then a Garlesh soldier from the allies arrives to help them, and they end up lifting the roof to the side, shaking hands with Kelly and Kade to help them finally escape the chaos.



As the duo stands up and looks around, they notice how the roots of the Technofragna, which had already grown to a considerable size because they had not been destroyed by the bombings, also disintegrate into dead cells until they collapse into clouds of dust that are gradually carried away by the wind, while the survivors stare at the sky, where, despite it not yet being nightfall, an Aurora Borealis was clearly visible, moving rapidly like a wave, as well as a star in the sky shining brightly on the other side of the setting sun, the Garlesh who had helped them and led the troops returning to base, approaches the other survivors and shouts clearly in Spanish



"Brothers... The war is over!"



In relief and shock, several soldiers shout their victory while others go to reunite with friends and loved ones to embrace each other, some happy and others in tears, while others pray and give thanks for their faith that the miracle they had prayed for so hard had finally come true. Kelly and Kade also embrace each other after what has happened, while several remaining helicopters and jets arrive at the scene to begin helping the survivors.



Some time later, with the effects still visible in the sky, Kelly and Kade are sitting behind a resistance medical transport, both already bandaged and treated with Biogel patches on their wounds, with Kelly strapping an exoskeleton harness to Kade's injured leg that will allow him to walk normally while he finishes healing with the tourniquet. Kade stands up and is surprised that it doesn't hurt as he tries it out.



Kelly: I can't say it's like new, but it'll do until you're fully healed.



Kade: Thank you very much...



Kelly: Thank you... For saving me.



Kade: You did too.



Kelly: You said it, we're in this together.



Kade: And... What do you plan to do now?



They both remain thoughtful for a moment as they look at the horizon and the other survivors gathering resources and retreating in different directions.



Kelly: To be honest, it's been a while since I stopped thinking about tomorrow... I don't have a clear plan right now... Other than to see if the place that was my home still exists.



Kade: I understand... Me too...



Kelly: But it'll have to be later. I received orders from people at what's left of Hanka Cybernetics to go with them to one of the remaining factories. I guess they want me to help them get it back online.



Kade: And I was assigned to a secure base in Baja California to plan a new operation, I guess a rescue mission, since those things finally disappeared.



From a helicopter that had just landed nearby, Kelly was called, telling her it was time to leave, and Kade was also called to join the survivors who were leaving, since he was already healed. They looked at each other for a moment before deciding to leave for their respective missions.



Kade: So I guess this is goodbye...



Kelly: Things are going to get better, so rest assured that when there are cities again and places that need mechanical work, I'll be there.



Kade: Maybe I'll come looking for you, Good Luck.



They both smile before parting, but Kelly remembers something and asks him to wait a moment. She reaches into her belt and pulls out a bracelet with a kind of metal charm resembling a circular washer attached to a small plate with three buttons.



Kelly: Even if we can't see each other before then... If you need anything, you can count on me.



Kade puts the bracelet on his right wrist, but just as he is about to thank her, Kelly is already on her way to the helicopter, where he is also going to meet up with the survivors. He climbs into one of the trucks as the helicopter Kelly was riding in begins to take off, and they look at each other one last time in the distance as both vehicles move away from the area, noting how several cargo helicopters and ships from the allied Garlesh are on their way to the devastated cities, and a flock of birds, after years of not being seen, are once again on their way to find a home in the natural areas, indicating that life is finally going to regain its balance, and Kelly, while in the helicopter, thinks she sees a normal owl flying among the clouds, which disappears after passing through the cloudy area. She takes the necklace she had stored in her pants and puts it around her neck as a tear rolls down her cheek and she says softly, "Thank you"...



"It turns out that the Soul of Glory operation was a greater success than anticipated, as the weapon that the Conglomerate was preparing to annihilate all forms of life in the galaxy that met a certain genetic pattern was used against them and destroyed to prevent any other evil extremist from wanting to use it... After three years of war and many people giving their lives to ensure our survival, the storm had finally ended, but now we would have the task of restoring the world from the ruins, as for the first time there was certainty that there was a tomorrow..."