The massive iron doors were wide open. Commander Oliver stood at the edge of the dark tunnel. He looked out into the giant, impossible chamber.High above him, there was no stone ceiling. There was a gigantic, perfectly clear magical portal. Through the portal, Oliver saw the planet Earth. He saw the blue oceans and the white clouds. It looked beautiful. But it was a terrible trap.Standing on a high stone balcony in the cavern were the three leaders of the Traveler Council. Prime Councilor Vane, Councilor Tor, and Councilor Silva. They were supposed to be safe on Earth. But the Wraithborn Overlord had infected them. Black veins crawled up their necks. Their eyes burned with bright red fire.Prime Councilor Vane held a glowing white coin in his hand. It was the exact opposite of the black coin in Oliver’s pocket."Welcome, Commander Oliver," the corrupted Prime Councilor smiled. The Overlord’s deep, evil voice came out of the old man’s mouth. "I brought your home to you. Now, give me

"Drones. Paint targets," Oliver commanded.The silver drones buzzed around the serpents' heads. They shined their green lasers onto the soft throats of the beasts as they reared back to spit."Miller. Suppression fire on Serpent Two. Blind it," Oliver ordered."Yes, sir!" Miller yelled. He fired his heavy machine gun. BRRRRRRT!The heavy bullets smashed against the crystal face of the second serpent. The bullets did not kill it, but the bright sparks and the heavy impacts confused its heat sensors. The serpent thrashed wildly, unable to aim its acid."Davis, Smith," Oliver said. "Target Serpent One. The green dot is exposed."Davis and Smith stood on their invisible floating bridges. They aimed their rifles. They were perfectly calm now. They knew Commander Oliver was in complete control of the battlefield. The math was protecting them. They pulled their triggers at the exact same time.Two blue lasers flew across the cavern. They hit the exact center of the green dot on the first se

The soldiers stopped shooting wildly. They listened."Standard fire is highly inefficient," Oliver commanded rapidly. "We are executing a multi-unit pincer tactic. You will shoot exactly where I tell you. You will move exactly when I tell you. Do not deviate from the math.""Give the orders, Commander!" Miller yelled, holding his heavy gun ready."The enemy is powered by ground-based Rift energy," Oliver explained cleanly. "Their joints are exposed magic. Sergeant Miller, Smith, and Jones. You are Team Alpha. You will move exactly ten paces to the left flank.""Davis, Cole, and Vance," Oliver continued. "You are Team Bravo. You will move exactly ten paces to the right flank. You will surround the golems in a U-shape.""But if we move, they will hit us!" Davis cried. The stone fists were hovering right above them."They will not hit you, because I will distract their internal processing loops," Oliver calculated. "Move on my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark!"Team Alpha ran left. Team Bravo

The rain on Earth was not cold. It was boiling hot. Commander Oliver walked through the ruined streets of his home planet. The water reached up to his knees. It bubbled and hissed. The oceans had flooded the city. The sky was completely black, covered in thick smoke and purple lightning.In the distance, a monster larger than a mountain roared. It was the Overlord. The ancient god had hatched from the center of the Earth. It was destroying the world.Oliver did not look at the giant monster. He looked at his wrist computer. The screen was cracked, but it still worked. A tiny green dot blinked on the map."Distance to target: fifty yards," Oliver whispered to himself.He waded through the hot, salty water. He turned a corner around a broken glass building.There, crashed into the side of a tall skyscraper, was Ship Twenty. It was the human transport ship from Sigma-12. The heavy metal hull was smashed. Smoke poured from the engines. But the emergency lights inside were still glowing

"We do not go inside the station," Oliver said. "We use the environment to kill them."Oliver drew a circle next to the square."Directly above the subway station is the old city water reservoir," Oliver calculated. "It is a massive tank holding millions of gallons of boiling rain water. The concrete wall holding the water is cracked. Rax, your mutants have incredible physical strength, correct?""We can crush steel," Rax growled proudly."Excellent," Oliver said. "The mutants will not carry guns. You will carry heavy sledgehammers and metal pipes. I will guide you to the exact weak point on the reservoir wall. When I give the signal, you will smash the wall.""We flood the subway?" Vega asked, her eyes lighting up. "We wash them away?""No. Washing them away only moves the problem. We must eliminate the problem," Oliver corrected cleanly. "The Acid-Crawlers are immune to hot water. They will simply swim out."Oliver looked at the human fighters."You ten humans," Oliver ordered. "You