Bright morning sunlight streamed in through the large glass windows of Atlantis Base as General Marcus Caldwell stood in one of the lounges looking out over the bright open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The tranquil sight of those morning waters was one that the older Canadian military officer would never tire of. It had been a remarkable feat of modern engineering that a small city and military base could operate as a floating outpost in the middle of the great ocean. While there were a few other floating outposts in the world, Atlantis Base was the largest and most prominent one in service to the United Nations Defense Forces since the first Xeno attack five years ago.

Over the glittering morning waters, Caldwell watched as patrols of several technologically advanced fighter jets took off and landed along the floating city's long runway piers to the north. Like a lot of other computer systems and design features of Atlantis Base, the single seater Pegasus jet planes were sleek hybrid fighters that incorporated Adventi technology into their weaponry and flight systems.

The Base Commander's idle thoughts were suddenly drawn away as he heard the swish of automatic doors opening and he turned to see two figures enter from the corridors. One was Dr. Lucy Beckett looking prim and proper while carrying her data slate followed by Captain Martin Sterling. He was a lean young man of average height with short dark hair and eyes. In a way, he could be considered conventionally handsome, even in spite of the stoic and serious expression that he often wore on his face.

The young American officer had forgone his dress blues in favor of the more practical duty uniform of the base personnel: a simple bluish gray jacket and slacks with color coded piping, which on his uniform was red. Like every other duty uniform, it also bore distinct rank and service insignias along with the flag of the owner's member nation on their shoulder.

As they entered, Martin stood at attention and gave a crisp salute, "General."

Caldwell returned the salute with an easy smile and nodded, "Captain Sterling. Doctor Beckett. Good morning to you both. If you'll come with me?"

He gestured down another well lit corridor leading to one of the base atriums and began to walk. As the three made their way down the sterile well lit hallway, Caldwell handed a file folder off to Martin and spoke idly, "I went over your selections for the new squad, Captain. They were fine choices and ones I believe would make an excellent assault team… however, I decided to make some final changes of my own."

Martin opened the file and glanced over it as they walked. He stopped and tried to hide his surprise, "You changed three out of the four selections, sir."

"I did," Caldwell said with a smile, "For this new squad's mission, I believe that more diverse and unconventional skills will be needed… to make a well rounded team."

Martin looked over to Lucy with a small grimace but she merely shrugged in silence.

Finally, they walked out into a large bright atrium surrounded by glass windows where four young men and women stood in the dress uniforms of the UNAF. Upon seeing Caldwell, they all formed up into a line and snapped to attention.

The General saluted back and gave an easy wave, "At ease everyone. For those who are newcomers, welcome to Atlantis Base. I am the Base Commander, General Caldwell and I want to commend each and every one of you. You've been hand picked to join Project Nova and help field test some of the world's most advanced weaponry. If all goes well, you may be activated as the first elite squad of Nova Rangers."

He gestured slowly to his left, "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Lucy Beckett, Chief Engineer and head of Project Nova."

The scientist stepped forward and calmly adjusted her glasses, "It's an honor to meet you, Ranger Candidates. As you know, my late father Andrew Beckett was responsible for the technology behind the original Ranger program. A lot has changed in the past five years and we've made some great leaps forward. There's going to be a lot of work left to do for all of us, but I promise you that my tech will not let you down."

Caldwell nodded and gestured to the military officer on his right, "Everyone, this is Captain Martin Sterling. He had served as a former Alpha Ranger and I've chosen him to be the commander of your new unit. Captain?"

Martin stepped forward and walked down the rank of the Ranger recruits doing an informal inspection while glancing at each of their profiles. He started with the shortest female at the end, an Italian girl with long dark hair and attractive Mediterranean features. "Lt. Carmella Catalano? Italian Air Force?"

She kept a disciplined look forward, "Yes sir, but I also go by Ella."

"It says here you're a specialist in handling computer systems. That might almost be useful. Do you have any field experience?"

Ella hesitated and did her best to not show her nervousness, "I... did take a brief training course with the Airborne infantry."

Martin scrutinized her for a long moment before moving on down the line, "Let's hope it's enough then. Next, up... Lt. Erin Reilly."

A fair skinned brunette girl with an Irish flag patch on her uniform straightened up, "Sir!"

Martin looked over her file and eyed her skeptically, "You're a cultural researcher... fluent in several languages, including extraterrestrial?"

"Yes sir," Erin said in a light lilting accent, "I've been doing extensive research on the language and writing of the Adventi aliens, so that we can better adapt their tech."

Martin nodded slowly while keeping a stony but neutral expression, "All well and good, but what about your combat training?"

Erin blinked a moment and cleared her throat nervously, "I... uh, got passing scores in hand to hand and marksmanship?"

Martin eyed her and kept moving, "If this is going to be an elite combat unit, passing scores are not going to cut it. From here on out, I'm going to expect each and every one of you to score exceptional marks on your core assessments."

He stopped next at a younger bespectacled man who looked to have a mix of dark Asian features, "Lt. Bharata Timothy, Indonesian Covert Ops... you're an Intelligence guy?"

Bharata gave a calm nod, "That's correct sir. I was recently part of a recon scout unit who trained extensively in the jungles."

Martin examined him and saw that Bharata was a bit on the wiry scrawny side. "Well Lieutenant, if our unit becomes active, we'll probably see a lot of direct combat with the enemy. That means we're going to need to get a lot more physical training in... especially for you."

The young lieutenant grimaced and simply nodded in reply.

Finally, Martin marched up to the last recruit. He was a tall fair featured German soldier who stood a good head taller than everyone else. "Lt. Erik Dobermann Jr... Medical Officer and German Special Forces."

"Jawohl mein capitan!" the large man barked with a faint hint of a smile.

Martin grinned slightly as Erik had been one of his original selections for the team... a talented field medic and an able combat airman in the German Air Force. He was arguably the most qualified member among the recruits, and he had been serving at Atlantis Base so Martin already knew him to be a good reliable soldier.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant, for a moment I almost mistook you for an attack dog there."

Erik nodded slightly, "Understandable sir... will there be any personal issues I can improve on?"

Martin tucked the file under his arm and shook his head at the big man, "Actually, I'm going to be in need of an Executive Officer... a second in command. The XO job is open to you if you want it."

Erik nodded and kept a straight disciplined face, "Thank you sir. You can count on me."

As Martin stepped back, Caldwell crossed his arms, "Well, now that all that is settled, are there any other questions?"

Ella raised her hand, "Yes sir. I was just curious, but when are we going to be allowed to field test the morphers and try on the nice spandex?"

From the side, Lucy's eyebrow twitched in mild annoyance as she tried her best to keep her voice level, "That is not spandex Lieutenant. It's a self assembling nano fiber..."

She paused as she caught sight of Martin silently shaking his head toward her before she cleared her throat and composed herself, "First thing's first. I'm going to schedule some sessions to get you up to speed with the other equipment and I'm sure Captain Sterling will want to do some training drills with the whole team too."

Caldwell folded his hands to the others, "If that's it, then I'll leave you to it. Dismissed."

The ranger candidates relaxed a little and looked to each other before they heard Martin call out sharply, "All right, I'll show you four to your living quarters so that you can get settled in. Our first training drills start at 0700 tomorrow morning. I expect to see everyone there awake, on time, and ready to go. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" all four ranger candidates replied as they snapped off a smart salute and followed him out the door.

Bright light from the sun lit up the far edge of the red planet's horizon as a fleet of Xeno-Machina warships dropped out of hyperdrive into the high orbit of Mars. The host of large alien ships sported aesthetic designs that roughly resembled great baleen whales and did little to reflect the light of the sun with the dark coloration of their hull plating. All along the outer hulls of the whale-like ships were patches of grotesque protrusions that resembled barnacles where weapon systems and sensors had been installed.

As the small armada leveled off and stabilized their position in orbit, the spacecraft formed up around their largest hive ship. Deep within the heart of that colossal ship, the Xeno Machina warrior Hellspont made his way down the tangled corridors toward the command core. The sounds of his heavy metal footsteps echoed in the halls as he passed several cyborg work drones and made his way through the hellish decks full of biomechanical beings going about their duties. Some half-human, half-machine workers inspected consoles with their long steel probe fingers while other half robiticized servitors twitched and moaned from the bulkheads onto which their bodies were completely fused into the ship.

Finally, the general came upon the last gates where a score of armed guards who looked like a horrific amalgamation of partly humanoid gun emplacements stood at their post. Soon enough, the corridor opened up into a wider circular room that almost resembled a nuclear reactor core. At the very center of the dimly lit lair, the Xeno warrior looked up and stopped before the torso of a colossal robotic creature who was fused by pipes and circuitry into the very heart of the ship.

The being's body was dominated by a giant monstrous robotic head with two rows of structures fixed to its shoulders. Within each slot of the structures were smaller cybernetic heads made partly of steel and partly of organic beings. They were bald and featureless yet resembled human ones and their mouths murmured quietly as if they were carrying on several conversations at once. Whether or not those faces were changing or contorting in joy or agony, it was hard to tell.

At the foot of the monstrous robotic being, Hellspont stopped and bowed, "Lord Phaeton, the fleet has just dropped out of warp. Once we make the final preparations, I expect us to arrive at Earth within two days.

"Very good Hellspont," the cybernetic overlord said in a deep menacing voice that seemed to reverberate around the entire chamber, "Ever since I had elevated you to the rank of Warmaster, you have proven yourself worthy of the mechanical upgrades to your body. My trust in you has been well placed."

Hellspont bowed slightly, "I only seek the perfection you offer... to be one with the machines and with you."

Phaeton nodded and gave a thoughtful murmur, "The original splinter fleet that I had sent to Earth several years ago may have been repelled, but this time we will bring the humans of Earth into our fold."

The Warmaster kept a level gaze and focused his cybernetic eyes on his leader, "They will resist us, my lord. They will try to fight using their primitive knowledge of the Adventi."

From his built-in shrine of the ship, the supreme leader of the Xeno Machina closed his eyes and relaxed his biomechanical joints, "Then we will show them the truth of our superior race. We are perfection. We will call out to the lost... those frail beings of flesh and bone, those who fear death even when we offer them eternity. We will not stop until all are one with us."

Warmaster Hellspont bowed his head and turned to leave the hive ship's command core. He had an invasion to plan and there was still much work left to be done.

That afternoon, Lt. Erik Dobermann sat in the busy mess hall of Atlantis Base eating his lunch and admiring the ocean view from some of the many large bay windows that gave the base its distinct bright and airy quality. He had already been serving in Atlantis for a year as part of a Western European contingent, given that a good number of the base personnel were already dominated by Americans, Canadians, and Britons. Still, the sight of the clear open waters was something he found relaxing. Having showered up and finished with morning training, he enjoyed the brief respite and lounged in his comfortable duty uniform over a meal.

He gave another easy sigh then turned to greet one of his new teammates who joined him for lunch. The wiry Bharata Timothy plopped down in a seat across from him and stretched his neck out a few more times before giving a groan, "Well... that was a fun morning. I think I'll be having muscle spasms for days."

Erik grinned and put his fork down, "Sorry to hear it Bara. Consider it a good training lesson for not getting shot then."

He had been referring to the squad's morning combat exercises, assaulting fixed positions while under fire from low powered stun blasters. While the shots weren't lethal, they still packed enough of a punch to leave a person temporarily dazed during training exercises. Today, Bharata had felt like a magnet for the blaster bolts.

The Indonesian man frowned and took a sip of water, "I don't get it Erik, you're as big as a tree. How did you not get hit once today?"

The big German airman laughed, "When you're as tall as me, you've got to learn to duck really fast, especially when there's trouble."

"Speaking of trouble... here comes some now," Bara joked as their two female squadmates also approached and joined their table.

Ella Catalano looked down toward her plate and gave a discouraged look, "Well Erin, I don't suppose you want to trade. Gray meat lumps in brown sauce doesn't look all that appetizing to me."

"You'll get used to it kid," Erik said kindly as he slid over his cup of blue jello to her, "Sometimes the grub here's not that great but try the jello. It's wunderbar."

As Ella gratefully began to dig in to the dessert, Erin Reilly leaned back in her seat, "Erik, you're kinda the veteran member among us recruits and you know how things go around here... do you really think they're going to officially activate Nova Squad? I mean... we've been here a week and we've been training our asses off."

Erik crossed his arms and shrugged, "I dunno. We are getting an equipment tutorial later today from Dr. Beckett... but I guess it kinda depends on whether or not Captain Sterling thinks we're ready."

The three younger recruits looked to each other, then over to where their commanding officer sat. They spied Martin sitting alone at a corner table at the other end of the room. He had finished his lunch and was drinking a cup of coffee while looking over some data slates.

"That might not be for a while then," Bara muttered in dismay, "Since training started, Captain Sterling's been really hard on us. Did you see the way he chewed out Erin on the obstacle course this morning?"

"Don't remind me," the young Irish recruit muttered in embarrassment, "To be honest, I think Sterling is kinda mean and scary too."

Ella gave a thoughtful look to herself and shrugged, "Really? I actually think he's kinda cute... in a serious broody kind of way."

The others stopped and stared at her for a moment before she continued nonchalantly, "He probably just comes off as kinda mean to you guys because he's lonely."

"Or... maybe it's because he's our C.O. and it's his job to train us," Erik countered.

Ella took another bite of jello, "You probably know him better than we do Erik. Does he always sit and work alone?"

Erik sighed and shrugged, "I haven't worked much with him, but yeah... I guess. Usually the only person I see him spend time with outside of work is Dr. Beckett... sometimes over a meal or a drink at the officer's lounge."

"Ohh, you don't think there's something scandalous going on there, do you?" Erin chuckled with a hint of mischief in her voice.

As the acting X.O. of Nova Squad, Erik gave a mild frown and silenced the others, "Come on everyone, we shouldn't gossip so let's show some respect, huh? Let's focus instead on that weapons demo after lunch, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Bara smirked, "Maybe this time I'll be the one who gets to fire at something and not get shot back."