Alpha base -Uranian moon Miranda

'They're breaking through!' bellowed a trooper with a somewhat redundant comment, over the din of the hammer blows raining against the reinforced steel entrance of the barracks. 'What is going on!'

     'We are defending ourselves' replied Captain Evers. 'Any other concern can be shelved!'

     Four days ago the entirety of the outer colonies of the Sol system had gone dark, every form of communication had been shut down. At first this had been thought of as a prelude to an invasion, as this would be the first move -to sever all communication lines- of any would be aggressor. But a press release from Governor Strauss had explained that two capital vessels had collided throwing out millions of tons of radioactive materials, this was said to be the cause of the disruption. Two things didn't sit well with this, firstly how could the Governor send a message and no one else could and secondly, even two of the largest ships of the line however massive could not through out enough interference to blackout half the solar system. Something was going on, but it didn't seem likely anyone on Miranda would ever find out as a craft had come down in the centre of Alpha base a few moments ago and all hell had broken loose. 

     The base was permanently garrisoned with six hundred troopers, however, exactly how many were alive at this present time could only be guessed at. The sound of battle outside was deafening, even over the din of the attackers trying to get into the reinforced structure Captain Evers and his platoon occupying this barracks.

     'When they break through I want clear lines of fire!' shouted the Lieutenant, while feeding shells into his automatic shot gun. 'Pick your targets, short controlled bursts!'

     There was no time for any acknowledgments from his troopers as the reinforced door was blown inwards with an explosion of sparks, debris and effervescent violet light- the latter illuminating the now shattered corridor in a ghostly sheen- the troopers stationed closest to the impact are were lying in a pile of bloody ruin, as their comrades traded shots with the mysterious attackers. 

     The Captain paused in his firing to turn to his radio operator. 'Get me the command and control centre on the line, find out what is happening!'

    The operator nodded, as the enemy fire intensified, throwing four more troopers to the ground as they were blasted to pieces. 

     A part of the Captains mind wished that he would never get the answer he sought, as he had already drawn his own conclusion of exactly what they were up against, the exotic weapons fire, the confusion over the last four days, along with the fact that humanity had been unified for over four hundred years meant there was only one answer to who this enemy could be and that conclusion didn't sit well with him.

    A figure stormed the entrance while firing from the hip as it charged, the figure was enclosed in form fitting cobalt blue armour which was being torn apart by the sheer amount of ordnance being dished out by his troopers. The aggressor opened up at point blank range immolating a trooper before he could have a chance to scream. The enemy took down three more troopers before it too was brought low by a well-placed shot that parted its head from its shoulders -As its headless corpse hit the decking there was a lull in the fighting.

      'What is it?' asked Sergeant Locklear, while kicking the prone armoured form. 'I havent see gear like that before, are we at war?'

      Captain Evers didnt reply, he looked to his radio operator.

      'I cant get through to command.' Said the operator, while shaking his head. 'I am picking up squad traffic from this entire region, whatever hit us is not a localised event.'

     Captain Evers felt his stomach tighten, this was an invasion on a monumental scale and the invaders were alien. War in itself was an alien idea to even contemplate, yes humanity had an armed forces, but they were little better than glorified policemen. The thought of actual combat had always been a ludicrous idea, now that coupled with the fact they were fighting aliens made the situation all the more surreal. 

     'Right, gear up.' Ordered the Captain, forcing himself into action. 'We'..

     The Captain never got to finish his order as the entire front of the barracks disappear in a violet borealis, accompanied with a rush of hot air and screaming troopers. Captain Evers was knocked from his feet, he hit the floor skidding on broken chunks of masonry and pieces of his comrades, everything did not slow down, he did not feel a detached sense of reality, all he felt was a deep sense of dread as the majority of his force was annihilated right before his eyes. Captain Evers scrambled to his feet scooped up his shotgun and ran for the exit as did the surviving members of him command, some ten troopers.

    Captain Evers emerged into the black of night, the only source of illumination being the burning wreckage of military vehicles and the burnt out or destroyed remnants of Alpha base corpses of troopers were strewn in amongst the madness. The night air had a bitter tang to it, the moon had been Terra-formed centuries ago -the process of artificially creating a breathable atmosphere- and had always had a chemical scent and taste too it, this being due to the process of artificially manufacturing air. However, this bitter taste was not the norm, it had the signature of engine oil, gun smoke and the bizarre scent of ozone. This was the smell of a war zone a stench that had not been experience since before the unification of Earth.  

    The barracks the Captain and his ad-hoc fire team had exited was now the most intact structure left in the base. The command and control facilitation which they had been so frantically trying to communicate with was gone, the only trace that it had been there at all was a shallow crater and scorched foundations. Due to the settling smoke and lack of fire it looked to have been first to be hit, the bastards knew exactly where to hit the. 

    There was a deathly silence throughout the base, no rattle of gunfire, no frantic fighting or the sound of men dying.

     'Where did everyone go?' asked Sergeant Locklear, while looking at the carnage that had been wrought upon their comrades. 'What happened to the fighting?'

     'I don't know.' Replied Captain Evers, while pointing to the far end of the base, at an alien looking tower protruding from the ground. 'What is that?'

     'There's another!' shouted a trooper looking to their six oclock position.

     Another two were called out, four towers in all, each had a metallic blue sheen too them, the towers were evenly spaced throughout the base, their soaring heights were lost out of sight due to the darkness of night that was enveloping the base.

     'Movement at the perimeter!' shouted the trooper who had called out the second tower. 'They have us surrounded!'

     'Combat wheel, weapons out!' Bellowed Captain Evers. 'Prepare to open fire!'

     Suddenly a blinding violet flash resolved itself above the troopers- forcing them all to avert their gaze- as the glare wore off the entire area of the base was illuminated revealing hundreds of cobalt blue armoured figures encircling there position.

     'Look up!'  called out a trooper in their number pointing for the his comrades to follow his gaze.

     Captain Evers drew his gaze skyward, as did the surviving members of his platoon, they saw what connected to four towers. A colossal four legged behemoth reared directly above them, its exotically metalled battlements held yet more armoured figures all with weapons trained upon them. At the fore of the behemoth were two multi limbed close combat weapons ending in vicious three pronged clubs and a squid like fore which was looking down at them with that seemed to be contempt this head section was now the sole source of illumination.

     The silence of the base was shattered as the radio affixed to the operators back crackled to life.

     'This is a system wide broadcast.' Said a voice crackling with interference. 'A significant aggressor of unknown alien origin has advanced upon the outer colonies. Pluto has been abandoned, the moons of Neptune have been taken. We are now at a state of war, expect attack from any and all direction do not seek terms of surrender as they do not take prisoners.'

     Silence descended upon the base once more, the aliens stood unmoving, like silent statues.     

     They did not advance nor did they withdraw, they just stood there as if taunting the meager human force to make the first move. Captain Evers looked to his troopers, who had now turned to him for answers, his blood ran cold as he realized he had none, as massive void could be felt in his chest, for years he had dreamed of fighting the good fight against any would be enemies of humanity. But now that moment was here he did not have the answers his men so desperately required, he could feel his arms and legs become ever increasingly heavy as if someone had just attached lead weights to them. He knew that they were now all lost, he knew that in the next few seconds they would be massacred, he knew that this was not the end of his time in the universe.

     Strangely this sudden realization was liberating, as if someone had cut the bonds that had been sapping his confidence, fresh energy reinvigorated his body as fire could be felt in his veins he may die right here right now, but he would take at least one of those bastards with him!

     'With me!' cried Captain Evers, as he racked a fresh shell into his automatic shotgun.

     In that exact moment an apocalyptic flash resolved itself directly above them all, its searing intensity reduced everything in its blast radius -including Captain Evers- into their component atoms in the blink of an eye.

     Then everything was darkness once again.