The first confirmed sighting did not come from a drone.
It did not come from a satellite feed, a security camera, or one of the thermal sweeps passing over the dark roads around Basa. For hours, every machine in the air had searched for a shadow that refused to appear. Predators circled above fields, treelines, and abandoned highways. Ground teams checked relay stations, fuel yards, and outposts with weapons ready and nerves stretched thin.
In the end, the first proof came from a survivor.
Corporal Ben Reyes stumbled into the emergency medical station at Forward Operating Site Charlie shortly after two in the morning. Half his uniform was dark with blood, and his face carried the empty look of a man who had not yet accepted that he was still alive. The medics moved at once, but for one breath, the whole room simply stared at him.
One of the medics caught him before his knees gave out.
"Corporal, what happened?"
