[Sector A - Private Hangar 4] The wall of fire on the runway was dying down. Through the black smoke, the clicking and hissing of the Ancients grew louder, like a rising tide of dry leaves. "Krog! The door!" Alex shouted, limping toward the massive steel blast doors of Hangar 4. The brute was there, his muscles bulging as he manually cranked the emergency override wheel. The hydraulics whined in protest. The heavy steel door was descending slowly, too slowly. "Get in! Move!" Krog roared at the last few stragglers of the Legion. Alex was the last one out. He sprinted, his injured leg burning with every step. Behind him, a black shape leaped through the smoke—a Larva, faster than the others. It shrieked, its scythe-limbs raised to decapitate Alex. Alex didn't stop. He slid. He baseball-slid under the descending steel door just as the creature lunged. CLANG! The heavy door slammed shut, sealing with a magnetic lock. A thud vibrated through the steel. Then a screech of frustrat

[Sector A - The Wolf's Den (Underground Submarine Pen)] The explosion that sealed the tunnel entrance left a ringing silence in the cavern. The air was thick with dust and the smell of ancient diesel. Alex clicked on the flashlight of his stolen rifle. The beam cut through the darkness, revealing a massive concrete cathedral carved into the rock. The ceiling was lost in shadows, covered in stalactites that dripped condensation. "Where are we?" Krog’s voice echoed, oddly quiet for the giant. "The history books were right," Elias whispered, wiping dust from his glasses. "The Nazis built a base here before Sterling bought the island. A secret U-boat pen." They walked to the edge of the concrete dock. Below, the black water lapped against the stone. And there she was. Not a sleek, nuclear-powered attack submarine. But a relic. A ghost from 1945. It was a Type XXI U-boat. The hull was rusted in patches, painted a dark, mottled grey. But strange, modern modifications—Sterl